I'd like to revisit the Kobe Shaq situation. The Lakers management looks really good right now. There was a time when they had to make a decision, based on the contracts and egos of these two superstars, one had to go and one had to stay. They chose to let Shaq go. Look at the situation now. Kobe is the best player on the planet, shaq looks old, injured, slow and is running out of gas, the lakers are the #1 team in the west right now, and the scary thing is, Kobe hasn't shown any indication that he is slowing down. He is just now entering his prime, and it appears that he has another 8 good years left in him, while Shaq has almost nothing left. You guys do realize that Kobe is only 29 years old, right? If Kobe plays like this for 8 more years, will he own every offensive NBA record in the book?
Even before the Gasol trade they were on pace to make the playoffs for the 3rd time out of four seasons since the Kobe-Shaq split. Yeah, Shaq won a title in Miami but you obviously have to factor in the staggering difficulty level of the Western Conference versus beating the likes of the Baby Bulls and the Nets in order to get to the NBA Finals. Now with Gasol, that shouldn't be a valid excuse anymore. The pieces are there in order for the Lakers to advance deep within the playoffs. It's all on Kobe to get them there though.
It was an elementary choice for the Lakers. Kobe is younger, and basically he forced the Lakers to make a choice between him and Shaq. Remember he opted out that season and the implied unsaid message he gave is that he won't resign if they brought back Shaq.
Since the trade: Shaq got another ring Kobe did not I know everyone is jumping on the Lakers bandwagon but they have not done a damn thing yet. It is very possible that they don't make it to the Finals even with the new roster. Also, Kobe has another good 8 years left in him? I doubt it. 37 is ancient for a guard. He is already having issues with wear and tear due playing the league for so long and going deep into the playoffs while they were winning Championships.
I'm pretty sure thats why they stuck with Kobe... b/c he is a million times better than Shaq. Lakers are sick for sure Rockets over the Spurs though in the WCF, then Clutch City over Detroit. YEAH!!!!!!!
Yeah. A super rich owner like Mark Cuban is great when he's willing to spend, but also tends to lead to bad decisions, because he feels he can throw his money at any player, even though he might overpay them (Dampier). He screwed up with Dampier, so when it was time to sign Nash he got cold feet because he was still stung by the Dampier move. Jerry Buss is more calculated and patient. He didn't mind letting Shaq go.
Please elaborate on Kobe "having issues with wear and tear". He hasn't slowed down a bit, plays big minutes and never even gets tired. The guy is a machine. I don't think he is slowing down at all.
I still don’t think they did the right thing. Prior to this year they were in the lotto once and got beat in the first round twice. In that same timeframe the Heat went to the ECF twice and won one title. They weren't going to be in title contention this season either until the Grizz gave them a gift...and I'm sure they weren't thinking someone will just give us an all-star for nothing when they made the trade. They just got lucky....but luck counts too....
Shaq is old and done and Kobe is in his prime regardless of whether or not they got Gasol. You still think they should have kept shaq and let Kobe go??????? Are you serious?
The Shaq trade turned out to be good starting right now, but the right thing by design at the time? Nah. They almost lost Kobe, remember. It was wasted 5 years. Shaq got one more ring than Kobe did, and had Shaq stayed, the Lakers team could have gotten more rings for sure. Lakers management didnt do the right thing, they just got lucky. I believe Shaq's contract got exteneded by the Heat. Had Lakers not traded Shaq, he would come off their books this year anyway. The expiring or 20 mil is enough to get a couple star players to help Kobe.
It would have been better if the Lakers had kept Shaq, extended him, won a couple more rings, and then traded his expiring contract for Gasol. I don't buy any direct correlation between the Shaq trade and the Gasol trade. Getting Gasol was mostly luck. They had the expiring contracts sure, but it's not like the Lakers foresaw the Gasol deal when they traded Shaq.
If Kobe and Shaq would've stuck together they would probably have at least 2 more Championships. I still can't believe they imploded like that after losing to the Pistons. Not that I'm complaining.
I agree. Also, it's not like Kobe and the Lakers have done anything since the big trade. Sure they're playing great but haven't won no titles or even a playoff series yet. So until the Lakers actually win a ring, Shaq is still "winning the trade".
By this type of logic the Lakers should have traded Kobe for draft picks because in 5 years Kobe won't be dominant anymore but the guys they drafted will be entering their prime. Had the Lakers kept Shaq they would have very likely been contending for Championships over the last 3 years. At the time, they decided to trade the present (shaq) for the possibility of a bright future (Kobe). The move looks great now but it looked horrible over the last 3 seasons.
the point isn't did shaq win the trade, it's did the lakers win the trade. they obviously made the right choice. people keep saying they could've kept shaq and won another title or two. they didn't win the two years before that so i don't see how it's automatic they win some more. and more importantly, if they keep shaq, kobe leaves. even without kobe the lakers would've been over the cap so it's not like they would've signed any great new players in his place. if they couldn't win it the year before even with malone and payton, how are they just going to win it with kobe now gone? the main reason shaq has another title is because he went to a team that basically had another kobe in wade, and then wade went crazy in the ECF and Finals and got the added bonus of getting more calls than anyone has ever seen to basically win one of the biggest fluke/most anomalous titles ever. great for shaq, but there is no wade on the lakers if he stays. and now for the next few years, they could have broken down shaq who was teaming with wade on the worst team in the league or in his prime kobe who is one of the top players in the league, for about 2/3 the price no less. from the lakers perspective, which was basically have a good shaq for a couple of years then broken down shaq for a few more, or an in his prime kobe for many more years the choice was obvious.
there's no right OR wrong to this actually. it wasn't that hard of a choice. they could go win now mode and kept shaq and got rid of kobe, or win in the future mode by keeping kobe instead of shaq. you don't think you can fetch kobe for dwyane wade if they traded kobe to miami instead? miami would've done that without even thinking twice. then that miami championship would've been the laker's and the lakers would be 9-42 or whatever instead of miami. you realize you will get some people complaining if it went either way. obviously keeping kobe now vs shaq now is paying off because it was a move for the future that's why people are saying its great now. in the past 3 shaq was obviously the better choice. its not rocket science guys. keeping kobe = sucking for 3 years and being good later vs. keeping shaq = dominating for 3 years and then sucking later.
oops posted too fast and didn't get my sentence in. anyways by giving up a superstar due to trade demands it almost always has fetched lesser talent. so trading either shaq or kobe was a downgrade and would've forced a rebuilding phase. the lakers just chose to do it immediately and then reap the rewards afterwards instead of going win now and then rebuild.
Good post. Judging by this thread, and the responses in one I made shortly after the Gasl trade, some of the people on this board have a very difficult time with simple logic. The point has absolutely nothing to do with what Miami did or what Shaq did after the trade or Miami winning the trade. Some of you can't grasp that. The issue is whether or not the Lakers made the right decision in trading Shaq and keeping Kobe. It's not a foregone conclusion that they would have won more titles with Kobe and Shaq, and as they have now rebounded back to supremacy, the point is that they probably made the right decision trading Shaq.
