A poster on another board came up with the idea. I explored it some and thought it was interesting. Have you read about the Suns offering Q Richardson a contract? Doesn't make a lot of sense for them, considering that they are set at swingman. So... Phoenix's signing of Nash and Richardson might (and neglect of Kobe and a big man) indicate they could be gearing up for a run at the Diesel. It would explain: (a)Why the Suns didn't make a bigger run at Kobe (or at all from most accounts) (b)Why they are signing a swingman when two of their best players are swingmen. Hmmm.... I'm curious now. If you want to go plum loopy: Step 1: Q gets the word from Clippers brass that Kobe's in their pocket. (I realize this is the most far out. It also isn't necessary for the rest of the theory to be right - I just wanted to put that out there.) Step 2: The Suns realize the most dominant player in the game is available and stop pursuit of Kobe to get a PG who will be there to feed the post. Step 3: The Suns sign Q (neglecting the biggest need on their roster at this point - C) Here we are... Could Step 4 be offering Marion, a handful of young prospects (lord knows they have 'em) and a pick to the Lakers for Shaq? It jump starts the Lakers rebuild and gives 'em some options. Maybe I'm crazy but I see this more and more. It also explains why they signed and old point guard to play with a young team. If they trade some of that youth for the Diesel (who is himself getting up there) they have a good mix of veteran leadership and key positions and retain some of their youth. A starting lineup of: Nash JJ/Q (whichever isn't traded with Marion) Cabarkapa or another yung 'un Amare Shaq looks pretty dang good on paper, even in the west. Hmm.... Anyway, I'm sure there are some holes. Tell me what they are.
That does look good on paper. But, it all comes down to whether the Suns are willing to unload all that young talent just to get Shaq. Pretty much, it boils down to this for the Suns. Do you want to keep your future bright by keeping all the young guns you have, or, do you want to win now and trade off some of the young studs you have for Shaq. That's what it boils down to for the Suns. What they do is yet to be seen. I don't even know if they're thinking of Shaq right now.
That's what people thought about this past years Lakers. They were stopped though. In a very big way. So, realize this. Just because a team looks good on paper, doesn't mean it will be good. Look at the Lakers and TWolves. Two teams that looked absolutely fantastic on paper. Now look at who won it all. The Pistons. Are they the Lakers or TWolves? No. So, just because a team looks good on paper, doesn't mean they're unstoppable. The team has to be able to work together and there has to be chemistry between the players to have any type of success. And chemistry doesn't happen overnight. It's something you have to work on. And, in some cases, no matter how hard you work at it, it just doesn't happen. That could be the case if this happens. So, just cause it looks good, doesn't mean it's going to work. And, even if it does work, you still have to earn the title, you can't just have it handed to you.
No because I doubt that the Lakers would take any deal from PHX, that doesnt included a young bigman aka Amare. its pretty clear they want a young bigbody in any deal for Shaq aka Dallas giving up Dirk, New Jersey giving K-mart. PHX would have to come up off Amare,which imo doesnt favor PHX in the deal. And you say that you send a bunch of young up & coming talent to Phx in exchange for shaq but you left all of Phx good young talent or possible talent still on their roster. I mean I still see Q-Rich or Joe Johnson, Amare still on your Suns roster after the trade for Shaq, so where is the young talent your gving up? Barbosa & Jacobsen Which means you expect the Lakers to give up Shaq/& another Laker for Marion/Joe Johnson or Q-Rich/Jacobsen & Barbosa, I dont know seems alot like the deal the Magic shyed away from twice when PHx wanted T-Mac& Howard. So I would probably think LA would shy away from a similar deal concering their franchise player as well. It seems like you have to give up a litle more or a little something different inorder to land a guy that ,if traded, will change the fate of both franchises instantly as the traded is completed. I mean Marion is a borderline all-star.And Q-Rich & Joe Johnson are similar in the fact that they are both big maybes on whether they would truely become impact players at this level or just solid, run of the mill wing players. I mean they are both growing as players but the consistency in the growth is somewhat suspect. And with Kobe walking out the door (as you have it in this trade) ,Lakers would probably want more of a sure thing to replace Kobe& Shaq as their franchise player. And I dont Know what the rest of your package of young players would include but if it is guys like Jacobsen & Barbosa, they are headed down the road to being solid role players probably at best, when the Lakers say they want some payers I was think something like a high draft pick or something but I could be wrong. Inorder for this dal to come true without giving up Amare you would have to find away to aqucire a decent bigbody to sweeten the pot. And Lastly you started the deal off by saying the the Clippers would know they have Kobe intheir back pocket. Will that pretty much means that Lakers would know it too. Which means they would never do a trad to giveaway Shaq. Its knw way they change the franchise that much in the same offseason. If Kobe were to go to the Clippers, they would much rather let Shaq walk at the end of his contract then trade him cause their is know way the Lakers wold let the Clippers have the biggest box office & Media draw in their own building. With Shaq gone & Kobe on the Clippers, the Clipers now become the box office draw at the staples center, do you honestly ever see Mitch Kupcheck & the Lakers front office ever letting that happen?
Who knows where Shaq is going... hoenstly he has so many teams that he wants to go, and he jsut recently announced the Heat is on his list of teams... I honestly see Shaq staying in LA after all the drama of trade rumors...
Shaq wants to go to all these places, but, the irony of it all is he refuses to take any type of a paycut to go anywhere. I wonder if he realizes just how much money he's making and how much of an impact it will make on a teams salary cap. He may want to be traded to all these places, but, the fact of the matter is, he needs to realize just how damn hard it's going to be to trade him. Also, he needs to realize that Kupchak and company aren't going to give him up for free. They want something out of trading him. So, all in all, this is going to be a complicated process and it might take a while. Or, it could all boil down to Laker management not liking any of the deals and just keep him. But, who knows. There are places he wants to go but he might not get to go there.
I think Shaq will stay at LA.Maybe LA' boss wang to get the last champion before shaq' leaving. one is enough....
How is he suppose to take a paycut, you can't alter NBA contracts the way you would an NFL contract. He would have to wait untill after this year to sign a new deal for less
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Hurricane26:</div><div class="quote_post">How is he suppose to take a paycut, you can't alter NBA contracts the way you would an NFL contract. He would have to wait untill after this year to sign a new deal for less</div> Yes he does have to wait until his current contract expires, but Shaq wants any team he gets traded to, offer him an extension for more money per season. When people mention he not willing to take a paycut, it's for when he becomes a free agent. He's estimated to make around $30M in the final year of his contract. He wants the team he's with at the time of free agency to continue paying him $30M plus.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting wwwdddbbb:</div><div class="quote_post">I think Shaq will stay at LA.Maybe LA' boss wang to get the last champion before shaq' leaving. one is enough....</div> For a while it was being reported by ESPN and other credible sources that if LA got Rudy T as their coach Shaq would stay a Laker. BUT, if you read/watch ESPN then you'll learn that Shaq is refusing to go to LA even though Rudy is the new coach. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1836585:</div><div class="quote_post">New Lakers coach Rudy Tomjanovich tried to contact O'Neal, the Press-Enterprise reported, and Shaq left a message in response. "I just feel terrible for Rudy because I wanted to play for him," O'Neal said, according to the Press-Enterprise. "But I ain't coming back there." </div> It's really unfortunate that he feels that way, IMO. Shaq has an unbelievable amount of respect for Rudy because he, along with many other players, sees Rudy as "Hakeem's coach". I think Rudy could've given the Diesel another good 5 years, it's too bad Shaq can't put such petty differences aside to be with a coach he's always wanted to play for. But the league is a business and I guess that's just how it goes.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SupermanRT:</div><div class="quote_post">For a while it was being reported by ESPN and other credible sources that if LA got Rudy T as their coach Shaq would stay a Laker. BUT, if you read/watch ESPN then you'll learn that Shaq is refusing to go to LA even though Rudy is the new coach. It's really unfortunate that he feels that way, IMO. Shaq has an unbelievable amount of respect for Rudy because he, along with many other players, sees Rudy as "Hakeem's coach". I think Rudy could've given the Diesel another good 5 years, it's too bad Shaq can't put such petty differences aside to be with a coach he's always wanted to play for. But the league is a business and I guess that's just how it goes.</div> "Petty differences?" That organization has put making Kobe happy ahead of the ultimate goal of winning a championship. If I were Shaq I would have demanded a trade to.
