for what they had to give up, why not give it a whirl.

but shaq was lazy in his prime so i don't see him being that effective for a full season. but maybe they play him fewer minutes til playoff time.

i am *not* looking forward to this year's hype - imagine the storylines involved in a cleveland/lakers final...

- chuck

 

Shaq getting traded, nothing new there, I just hope these Rondo/Allen trade talks are just rumors...well at least the Rondo part.

 

I'd love to see a Shaq vs Kobe, Cavs vs Lakers 2010 NBA Finals. It might actually happen!

 

Snaq = The Big Cancer

Yeah, he got a championship in Miami, but he left that team as well... and I think Dwade got a appreciation of what Kobe went through, seeing as they are great friends now. Snaq on the other hand keeps moving from planet to planet draining resources.

He went to PHX and proclaimed he would take a back seat to the Nash and Amare. Saying they were the best team ever assembled. What was the outcome? A coaching change, a change in the style that made PHX a incredible team, missing the playoffs last season, and the eventual trade demand from the big coattail-rider. Oh and what a surprise, he wants to go to a team with another eventual HOF wing man. What a bum.

Sorry but I just don't see it happening. It's gonna be all fun for the first few months, then the shits gonna hit the fan. I'm calling it right now... Mike Brown will be out of there by mid-season.

As a Laker fan, I think our rafters will be tarnished if we hang the BIG DOUGHNUTs jersey up next to great LAKERS like Kareem, West, Magic, and Baylor. Especially after what he has said about our ownership and our HOF superstar.

P.S. sorry about going off in another direction.

 

I am VERY excited about this news!

 

No
Yes
No, but it does assure the best pre-game basketball show short of the Globtrotters.

 

Your HOF superstar was the reason Shaq left the Lakers. Your HOF superstar is also the reason that Phil Jackson left the Lakers. The year after Shaq left, the Lakers didn't make the playoffs. Kobe subsequently was ready to be traded to the Chicago Bulls, and the only reason he wasn't was b/c he refused to be traded after learning Luol Deng was part of the deal.

So let's call the spades the spades. Shaq isn't the perfect teammate, but Kobe sure as hell isn't either. As much as you paint Shaq as a bad guy with his departures from the Lakers and Heat, he isn't anything close to 100% as the bad guy there.

Phoenix was already dysfunctional even before Shaq showed up. Shawn Marion hated being a 3rd option, so he wanted and got out (and has seen his career also backslide). Amare Stoudemire was instrumental in getting D'Antoni shipped out (and perversely, he missed him after Porter came onboard). Shaq was the wrong fit offensively, but to point to him as the cause of Phoenix going from an elite team to an OK team is flat out wrong. The seeds of their demise were sown long before Shaq showed up.

As for your prediction that Mike Brown will be gone by mid-season, that's not exactly going out on a major limb. He's undoubtedly the worst coach by far of any elite NBA team. Heck, he's probaby the worst coach of any elite team in any major sport. Cleveland can't help but get better if Brown is shown the door while Lebron is still on the team.

Shaq, even at this late stage of his career, is a much better fit with the Cavs than he would ever be with the Suns. Considering the Cavs gave up essentially nothing for Shaq (Wallace has seriously declined due to cumulative injuries, and Pavlovic won't be hard to replace), it's a pretty solid gamble to see if Shaq can play 85% of the regular season at something close to 100% of his current physical state. And if things don't work out, the Cavs have the flexibility of trading him and his expiring contact before the deadline for a piece or two that might help them in the playoffs, or letting his contract expire and creating some decent cap room to use to sign a big-name FA in the hopes of keeping Lebron around.

At the very least, you'd rather have Shaq in your frontcourt than a Ben Wallace that is in such serious physical decline, he's actually contemplating retirement (and probably will, if given the right economic terms to retire).

 

I'm not sure where your hatred for Kobe comes from, but it really seems to be intense. It is hard to refute the fact that Shaq is out of shape and is falling apart physically. I tend to believe what people actually do more than what people say they are going to do. Shaq and all of his fanboys can talk all they want about how "he is motivated because he is playing with Lebron, etc, etc" I will believe it when I see it.

There are all types of rumors surrounding the cause of the Kobe/Shaq break-up. It seems pretty clear to me that it was in small part due to Kobe asking the Colorado cops questioning him why he couldn't just pay that girl off like shaq pays his girls off, which Shauni O'neal then found out about and went ballastic on Shaq, essentially causing the end of his marriage. It was mostly due to Kobe riding Shaq too hard about showing up to start the season in shape. Kobe is the most competitive guy in the game today, if not the history of the game. What would you do if you were Kobe and the most dominant player in the NBA was on your team and never showed up in shape and only played hard some of the time? Kobe's competitive desire really pissed off many of his team mates for many years. Ask all of the Laker players now how they feel about him.....

Although Shaq may be a top 10 player of all time, if he had 50% of Kobe's competitive desire and work ethic, he would be the greatest NBA player of all time.

Its not about the wrong chemistry or coaches in Miami or Phoenix. Its about a fat, out of shape, used-to-be dominant big guy who is not half as good as he thinks he is any more. He needs to hang it up, but his ego (which is the largest in all of professional sports) won't let him. He could have retired on top, now he is nothing but trade bait to free up salary cap space for some team.

On another note, do you still think the Nuggets have a better roster than the Lakers?

 

Hatred of Kobe? I don't hate the player. I've always respected his skill on the court.

But even now, his demeanor and personality are still questioned. He's undoubtedly grown up and matured some, but it took a LOT of events and perspective over the past 5 years for that to happen. His teammates don't love him now. That was pretty evident to many in the Spike Lee "documentary". 5 years ago, he was disliked intensely by most of the Laker organization. Hence Phil Jackson walking away, and the near-trade (widely confirmed by numerous league sources) that didn't happen b/c Kobe nixed it at the 11th hour.

It took awhile for Kobe to figure out that he couldn't do it on his own. Shaq winning a title with DWade was a huge eye-opener. It took a gift from Memphis for the Lakers to finally have a good enough roster to win a championship this year.

I agree that Shaq is nowhere near the premier talent he once was, but you can't deny that he's still in the upper half of the centers in the league. He's an improvement for the Cavs over what they could throw out there, and he cost them nothing.

I get that you and thedude are big-time Lakers fans, and you have strong feelings about current and former Lakers. What I am is a fan of the NBA that enjoys this time of year, when teams have an opportunity to reshape themselves for the immediate and longer-term future. The Cavs IMO have reshaped themselves to be more competitive this season without damaging their future if things don't work out.

And the Nuggets, if not for a bonehead coach putting them into position to lose games on inbounds plays of all things, should've beaten the Lakers. If the Nuggets win Game 1 and 2, instead of just Game 2, it's doubtful the Lakers recover from being down 0-2 after two home games.

 

^^^^^
I hear ya' and I am a Laker homer (so is thedude). No one really knows all of the facts surrounding Shaq leaving the Lakers, so you can't blame Kobe. I cannot help but think that if Shaq had even a small fraction of Kobe's desire and work ethic, that Laker team would have had at least 2 to 3 more titles in their run. If I was Kobe and the Laker ownership, I would be pissed at Shaq too. Especially considering his $30 mil per year contract demands....

I have to respectfully disagree with you about the Nuggets. With the exception of Billups, the Nuggets are s a team full of boneheads with a bonehead coach. It takes more than pure talent to win championships. No team led by Carmelo Anthony will ever win a championship. Billups is a great leader, but he had much better talent around him in Detroit.

I can almost guarantee that the Celtics will be back. They will probably be back in the finals against the Lakers next year. I can also almost guarantee that the Spurs will be the top challengers for the Lakers next year in the West. Not the Nuggets or the Rockets.

Time will tell. Remeber, every title run is full of "would have, should have, could haves" by the teams that lost to them along the way........