The Lakers-Heat deal stands at Shaq for Odom, Butler, Grant and #1. I don't understand how Lakers could squeeze out so much from Heat, considering the dire situation Lakers are in. This is becoming routine in the East. Thomas messed up Knicks early this year, Weisbroad acted like a fool two weeks ago, Paxson made a mistake no one with brain should, and now Riley. Why are they so dumb?
Caron was put in to sweeten the Grant's huge overpaid contract the Heat wanted to dump for nothing all along but couldn't get done before. The #1 didn't mean much. It's reported to be lottory protected and the Heat are figured to be a high seed in the East anyway. Such a low pick usually ends up a bench player at best. So it's bascially Odom for Shaq. Odom before last season was a smoking, lazy, underachieving and injury-prone tweener. Shaq is one of the most dominating players ever and was the one who put up 30/20 in the NBA Finals just last month. I think the Heat did a good deal here. It's a good fair trade for all sides.
My point is that you could criticize how bad the East are getting (but were they just the ones who won the Finals???) and how many bad moves they have done. But this one is not among any of those. The Heat and the East just got better and stronger with the addition of O'Neal.
And one more question, did the MDE sink so low that a marginal All-Star, an okay but not great young player, an overpaid contract and a very low pick are being considered too much for him??? It's probably only last month or so people claimed that he's not sale for any prices.
The thing is Miami just traded their youth away for an aging center who is most likely going to retire in 2 or 3 years, or worse, ask for a ridiculous extension. What are they gonna do after that? This was a short term fix for them. The deal is gonna look like crap if they don't win immediately, and by that I mean the title. As the finals showed, you can't just win with Shaq alone, and Wade is certainly not the answer especially with not enough experience. I also hear that Shaq is continuing to have some health problems with his feet. Good luck Miami, hopefully Shaq won't screw you. The Lakers were pretty much lottery bound with Shaq eating up all their cap space.
Its definitely not "basically" Odom for Shaq. Grant, although overpaid, is a solid big body. Butler is young, athletic, and a potential big time baller. Odom, sure, he's had his past, but he is as talented as anyone. There is also no guarentee how well the heat will do, so the draft pick can be anything. Regardless, its a first round pick, which could turn into something good whether its the 4th pick or the 22nd. In return, the Heat get one player...even though he may be the most dominant player, he will soon realize how tough life can be without Kobe on the perimeter. When teams double and triple team him, he wont be able to dominate. He can still get his numbers, but that doesnt translate into victories (just like the finals against the Pistons). The Heat already lost Alston, and now they are losing 3 more of the players that were key to their success last year. Horrible trade for the Heat.
Have a 30M expiring contract in Shaq that would allow them to rebuild. Think about what 30M can buy you. It can buy you TWO Max contract players! They give it a shot for a few years with Shaq and if they dont make it, then they have a HUGE expiring contract that can be used to rebuild. No question it is worth a shot for Miami!
odom and Kobe do they play the same position? if kobe doesn't resign . . . do we have two sets of clippers in LA Rocket River
Miami gain more out of this trade than Lakers for sure. Miami is not going to be a title contender anyway with the previous rooster. But now with Shaq, Wade, Eddie Jones, it is already to be EC finalist on paper. Even if the Shaq thing didn't work out, they got $30 million cap space after 2 years. That's just huge amount of cap space, more than 2 MAX contracts. Look at what Utah did with its $30 million cap space.
Kobe plays SG and Odom plays SF. Odom is a great compliment to Kobe as Odom is more of a pass first player. Odom will play Pippen to Kobe's Jordan.
I agree with you. From what I've read, most people here consider this to be a fair deal, or even lopsided toward the Heat, which is absolutely ludicrous. The Lakers are getting three very good players (two of them quite young) for an aging center past his prime who doesn't want to be there. The addition of a first round pick makes the deal even more insane. After such a promising effort last season, the Heat are nuts to be doing this, and the Lakers make out like bandits.
Guys, this is just Pat Riley, the guy that gave Eddie Jones and Brian Grant max contracts. Anyway, teams know that the Lakers HAVE to trade Shaq. Of course LA's gonna get screwed.
Look at miami's lineup now Wade E. Jones r. Butler U. Haslem Shaq with a bench of Wright, Miralles, Freije, Beasley, Malik allen Is that a top three team in the East? Is that a top eight team in the league? Is it worth throwing away your future?
No way. with Shaq+Wade, they can't do more what heat did last season. I just don't see any possibilities that this line up could surpass Pistons and Pacers.
I am in the minority here. I think when it is all said and done, Lakers got the better end of this deal!
