I wonder what it might be like to have Shaq on this team...................if for no other reason than to become Oden's personal mentor on the court? For all the buffoon that he is, Shaq really does have a larger degree of respect around the league....from players and coaches, alike. I'm sure it would be out of the question in KP's mind, but it still made me wonder.
Shaq wouldn't come to Portland. Too small of a pond for such a big fish. Shaq has his eye on NY. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/knicks/2009/02/shaq-could-have-eye-on-big-app.html http://layupdrill.com/2009/01/shaq-may-end-career-in-new-york/
Somehow I don't think anything is ever too far out for KP to "not even thnk about". I mean, at your M&G he brought up the possibility of getting K*be, who imo is much more radioactive than the Big Umbrella up here.
we already have the best rebounder in the entire league to mentor oden. don't need to throw our team future in the toilet for another.
I was thinking his behavior the last month...especially this past weekend...is setting up a return to the lakers.
Just for discussion's sake, let's say the Blazers want to be a player in the FA market in the summer of 2010. In that case, swapping RLEC plus Joel for Shaq would make sense. Not sure how this would work out, but something to think about.
Lakers win trophy this year, Kobe can say he did it without Shaq and be ok with him coming back During offseason Shaq is bought out by Suns Shaq signs for vet min or MLE to the Lakers (since money isnt the issue, nor can it be) Bynum sprains ankle in 2010 WCF, out for 2 weeks Kobe and Shaq lay the smack down to Lebron
Nope. According to Storyteller's site, Shaq's contract runs through the 2009-10 season. If the Blazers traded Joel and RLEC for him, they'd essentially defer their summer of cap space from 2009 to 2010. Given the number of major FAs available that summer compared to this year, it might be worth doing. I mean, Gerald Wallace would be nice, but that LeBron dude would be a bit better. The Blazers would have to guard their cap space by avoiding major re-signings next summer. They'd expose themselves a bit by not extending LaMarcus and Brandon before next October, and thus would have to potentially deal on the market for their services in the Summer of 2011, but we'd still have their Bird rights and they'd be restricted free agents. Even with capholds for Brandon and LaMarcus, the Blazers could have something like $20-25 million available under this plan. They'd also have the option of making a deal before next season's trade deadline useing Shaq's huge ending contract. Doubt it happens, but it seems like a plausible strategy given that the Suns are looking to cut salary this year.
In order to have LaMarcus and Brandon as RFAs, we would have to make qualifying offers to them in 2010, which have cap holds of three times their salaries. Either way, I think we'd have to find a way to cut salary elsewhere to have serious cap space in the summer of 2010. Trading Joel's contract for Shaq's would help, but I'm not sure that would be enough.
Shaq as a mentor? LOL. He's not very bright, and barely understands the basics of how to play the game. He gets by on his sheer physical enormity, and an absurd favoritism from the league officials. There's nothing he could teach Greg other than how to ride the gravy train. And, of course, he was a Laker.
