Not Such a Bad Deal After All

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">So, what do you think about the big trade now?

Another year later, and the Shaquille O'Neal deal is not looking like the worst disaster since "Kazaam." It is not the end of all things hoops in Los Angeles. Doesn't even resemble a truly awful trade.

That's not to say it was a thing of beauty, that the Lakers should not have insisted on including Miami's best young player - Dwyane Wade - for the game's most dominating center.

But a year ago, as Shaq led the Heat to a 61-21 record and the Lakers stumbled to an absolutely abysmal 34-48 mark, it had the makings of Delino DeShields for Pedro Martinez.

Shaq - his material fresh along South Beach - was charming the flamingos right out of Miami. The Heat was the new "it" team in the NBA. Miami became an immediate threat for the title.

Meanwhile, the Lakers were Team Chaos. Their new coach, Rudy Tomjanovich, was gone by midseason, like he knew something the rest of us did not. Kobe Bryant became viewed as the game's biggest ball hog. The team struggled to perhaps its worst season in franchise history.

The Big Whatever lapped it up. Ripped everything in L.A. but its police department. Childishly took equal delight in his new success and the Lakers' misery. Like it was all vindication, that it proved just who was right all along.

Only as time goes by, the trade is looking better.

It's looking like Kobe was not the Rasputin of the locker room, which is not to say Shaq was, but he is the guy with a history (see: Penny Hardaway) that can't be ignored because he has this really cute boyish smile.

There has been relative calm within the young Lakers this season. Phil Jackson is fond of commenting on the team's "good community," which is a little hard to come by when your star player is supposed to be an out-of-control egomaniac.

Ego, of course, always was at the center of the Kobe-Shaq feud and neither was without fault over a championship team's premature demise.

But Shaq wanted out. Try to remember that. He asked to be traded.

Since he still had a year left on his contract, the Lakers had two choices: Trade him or keep him and call his bluff.

Figuring it was no bluff, and they'd get nothing in return if he played out his contract and signed elsewhere, they understandably chose to trade him.

In return, they have essentially received forward Lamar Odom, center Kwame Brown (for Caron Butler), Miami's first-round pick next June and luxury tax relief of $30 million after releasing Brian Grant.

And by trading Shaq, they were able to re-sign Kobe.

Does that look like such a terrible deal? A trade that should be the end of general manager Mitch Kupchak or a call for the stoning of Jerry Buss?

Odom and Brown are starters. They have struggled with consistency, with learning the triangle offense, with living up to their potential.

But they have come on down the stretch and, it should be noted, both are still young - Odom is 26 and Brown 24. Promise remains.

Shaq, meanwhile, just suffered through the worst season of his 14-year career. Career-lows in scoring (20.0points per game) and rebounding (9.2).

And he is 34 and continually battling injuries. He played in only 59games this season, averaging 30.6minutes a game.

Shaq clearly is on the downside of his career. He's not the guy Buss wanted to tie up his payroll with by granting him a whopping extension.

Shaq seemed to grow tired of Los Angeles, of sharing the spotlight with Kobe, and wanted out.

He was paid $28 million in his final season, and said he would never sign for less than the maximum, as Kevin Garnett had with Minnesota so the Timberwolves would have payroll flexibility to sign additional players.

After Shaq got to Miami, however, he signed a contract that averaged $20 million a year ($100 million for five seasons).

There were no such deals offered to the Lakers.

Hey, he was great while he was here. The last three championship banners would not be hanging at Staples without him. Some day, they'll rightly hang his jersey up there and retire his number.

And he still is the best center in the game when he wants to be, though the overall depth at the position in the NBA is woefully thin.

Yet he is dramatically closer to the end than the beginning. And being the best current center is not the same thing as still being the game's most dominating player and expecting to be paid like it.

It's not that the Lakers are some serious title threat. They have a long way to go and no certainty they'll ever get there with this current core.

But Shaq essentially forced the Lakers to make a choice between him and Kobe, and Buss made the proper call. </div>

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<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dtpxcore:</div><div class="quote_post">The deal would've been great if we gotten wade instead of Caron Butler or Wade instead of Lamar Odom. Lot's of what if's but, right now the trade is still in favor of the Miami Heat. The Wizards trade is starting to turn the corner from a bad trade to a OK trade. Mitch needs to be fired for us to win another championship, what made Jerry West leave us?</div>

Phil Jackson