was... a bad move on the Lakers part. Seeing as Shaq on the Heat has won another championship and the Lakers haven't made it past the first round of the playoffs. Briant Grant is MIA and still freeloading off the Lakers. With Shaq, the Lakers could've contended for another championship and perhaps kept hte nucleus of Payton and Malone and Kobe together for one more season. a great move on the Lakers part. Shaq is a shell of what he used to be what with the injuries and considering how he would've left hte Lakers via free agency, the Lakers at least got Odom out of this deal. Shaq on the Lakers would've held the Lakers back from rebuilding and Kobe is flourishing and coming into his own as a team leader. Bynum is developing. Lakers will have cap space in 07. Really a wash as of now. While the Lakers are not contending for a championship, they are still playoff bound. As of now, no one knows where this trade will go. Personally, I think it was a trade that had to be done.. But the Lakers could've gotten more than just Odom. I think Odom is great sidekick but he's not going to be the Pippen for Kobe. So honestly, it's still a wash. I think we need more time to really see how this pans out.
You have to give Miami the edge until the Lakers win another title, or at the very least make it back to the Finals. I agree, Shaq had to go, and he wanted to go, but right now he has the last laugh because he a ring last season.
Well, the NBA works in cycles. You can't always have everything forever. Shaq left, got another ring, Kobe's building up his own team right now, and I'm glad. I think people forget that there was a lot of people who thought Kobe Bryant couldn't even compile a winning record without Shaq on his team. In hindsight, it would have been great to keep both, but life moves on and the NBA is a business. I am actually glad Shaq left...I wouldn't have gotten to witness the growth, maturity and the unbelieveable skill of Kobe to this extent otherwise.
i think it was the a great move for the Lakers....eventually the Lakers will benefit more from the trade than the Heat. Yeah I know the Heat won a championship but they never won two (2) something that Shaq always wanted and the heat projected. I truly think that Shaq will never win another championship and the way the Heat looks right now with old aged players, only one player with Talent and many players with long term contracts its going to be hard for them to rebuild. As for us we are just one piece away. Or maybe not even one piece just imjury free.
If we were to keep Shaq and Kobe, we would have no money left over to support the roles. Shaq wanted a $120million extension for 5 years! That's monster.
I think it was a move that had to be made. LO has been great this year and had been a huge key to our early success. The thing with Shaq is he's currently on his decline and has had a ton of injury issues since leaving. If you ask me, the only reason they won the title was because Wade carried that team...however, I don't know if they'd have made it there without him.
