<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Shaq trade sure is a ripoff. But it's not the Lakers who got jerked. If the Lakers had traded Shaquille O'Neal for Lamar Odom, straight up, I would say Miami got the better of the deal, but not by much. I hear you laughing. That's cool. Just take a look at this past season, when Odom had more rebounds per game than Shawn Marion or Yao Ming, more points per game than Steve Francis or Latrell Sprewell, and six more double-doubles than Dirk Nowitzki. Still, whatever Odom did, it certainly doesn't compare to what Shaq did for the Lakers, right? Wrong. It's closer than you think. Shaq had 21.5 points per game to Odom's 17.1. Shaq had 11.5 rebounds, Odom had 9.7. Odom had more assists, 4.1 to 2.9. Shaq is 32 years old, on his way down the other side of the mountain. Odom is 24, coming off a breakout season that established him as one of the elite young players in the game. I notice you've stopped laughing. </div> http://msn.foxsports.com/story/2573094
This has to be one of the worst articles I've read regarding this trade. You cannot base this trade on statistics. Shaq by far has more impact than Odom, Butler, or Grant. This trade is a ripoff for the Lakers, and I still cannot believe they are allowing it to happen. The Lakers are letting Shaq have his wish, but the fact is the Lakers own his rights and should not allow Shaq to make any demands. The Lakers don't even have a commitment from Kobe, nor do they know if Kobe will be innocent. I still don't understand the urgency for the Lakers to unload Shaq without being 100% positive Kobe is going to be signed and found innocent. The Lakers have set themselves up to lose both superstars at the same time. I blame this all on the ineffectiveness of the Laker GM, Mitch Kupchak. He has been useless since taking over for Jerry West.
This article was written by Sam Kellerman...I'm guessing he got the job because he's related to powerful ppl, lol.....(i'm talking about Max of course)
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Still, whatever Odom did, it certainly doesn't compare to what Shaq did for the Lakers, right? Wrong. It's closer than you think. Shaq had 21.5 points per game to Odom's 17.1. Shaq had 11.5 rebounds, Odom had 9.7. Odom had more assists, 4.1 to 2.9.</div> Is this clown for real?? Not disrespect to odom but a 32 year old shaq on the decline is still better than odom will probably ever be. The only reason shaqs points were low this year is because he was sharing the rock with 3 other hall of famers. His FG% last year was the highest its been since '97 and his rebounding was the highest its been since his MVP year. True, he isnt the same man he was 5 or 6 years ago, but he still dominates whoever is in front of him. The way some people talk about shaqs decline, you'd think the man has completely fallen off the map or something
You can't compare Shaq to Odom .. Center and Small Forward, BUT you can compare to what they did for their teams, Odom was paired with Wade and Shaq with Kobe so that equals out, but no way is Odom worth Shaq, but Odom with Butler, who will be a all star calibur player is a good deal by itself, plus you get Grant to help out and a future #1 .. Not too bad I think for a guy with 2 years left maybe!
Man, and I thought that I was optimistic about Odom. Ever since Odom was drafted I've liked him...he's got an excellent upside and all the physical tools to be a vintage Scottie Pippen...but the writer is absolutely retarded for comparing him to Shaq. Even though Shaq is clearly on the decline, his dominance is still uncomparable to anyone else in the league. I'm definitely disappointed that Shaq is gone now, but the NBA is a business...its just unrealistic to pay Shaq 40-50% of the whole team salary and still expect to have good role players & depth. People have to realize that this move is more for long-term success.
hell mel i dont think short term success would be possible with his 30 million dollar contract either...we made a poor move with devean, gave him too much money, and that more or less is our salary cap right there...devean, shaq, and kobe...with shaq being the great majority of it...shaq needed to be traded in the worst way regardless of his beef with kobe and regardless of his trade demands...both of those imo were irrelevant, i've been saying we needed to trade him since the beginning of last year (meaning the year we got knocked out by the spurs) because i could see the problems coming
That article is crap. There is no way on earth you can compare Shaq to Odom. They play two entirely different styles of ball. And, to say Odom is better than Shaq for the most, that too, is dumb. Shaq may be on the decline, but he's still better than most players in the league. He can still dominate a game by himself and he still makes you change the way you play on defense so you can accomodate for guarding him. Odom, I will say is a very good and young player. He has a ton of upside to him. He can play any position from 1-4. Because of that, the Lakers can use him to create all kinds of match up problems either with the power forwards of the West who can't guard on the perimeter or the guards of the West who don't even come close to having the size he has. They'll also be able to use him as a point guard if that's necessary cause he has the ball handling and passing skills to do so. So, to say Shaq isn't as good as Odom or to compare the two at all is wrong. Shaq may be on the decline and Odom has a lot of potential, but, the bottom line is, when it all comes down to it, Shaq is better. He makes you change the way you play defense. He not only does that, but he pretty much changes the face of the game when you play him. He's impossible to guard and he's still good on defense. So, overall, Shaq is still better and he's still the most dominant player in the game today.
