This is a very dangerous trade for Miami. True, they are unloading Grants contract from their team but they are giving up a talented and still developing superstar in Odom as well as a possible star in Caron Butler <font size="1">(at least he plays defence). </font> <font size="1"></font> <font size="1">I don't even think Shaq will be enough for Miami to win a championship much less the Easter conference finals. Dwayne Wade is good but he is not Kobe and Eddie Jones is a shadow of the player he used to be. He needs a better cast around him IMO. They are giving up a pretty decent future for a run at a championship, which I don't think they can win.</font> <font size="1"></font> <font size="1">On the other hand: No matter what anyone says about how fat, lazy, and arrogant Shaq is, he is still the best centre in the NBA bar none and he will crush the weak East just because he is that damn good. Is he worth Odom and Butler? If they don't at least win the ECF....he is not worth it.</font> <font size="1"></font> <font size="1"></font>
WWHHHOZAZ i just saw it on the news someone hook me up with shaq in a heat jersey and put it can happen on the bottom if the heat do this they might finish first east but may lose to the pistons i say 2 out of the 3 they meat in the season the east is famous for its guards dwayne wade is bcoming one of the better point guards in the game and eddie jones will b the if the heat can stay HEALTHY dont b suprised if they Breakdown the east id just watch out for this game Wade Billups Jones Hamilton RButler Prince Haslem RWallace Oneal BWallace key players Miami= *hopefully ALSTON will sign hes pleased with the team i also heard Nash or a good counterpiece is coming IF they have and money but if the Shaq deal goes through i doubt it how the East top ten will look if it goes 1.Miami *Shaq Wade Miami's defense need i say more* miami is in a wack division which includes MAGIC ATLANTA washington i believe* 2.Detroit 3Nets 4Pacers 5Knicks 6Bucks 7Boston 8.MAgic or 76ers if shaq leaves Iverson may think and im telling u u think last years movements where crazy this years is gonna be 2times than last year GOOOOOOOOOOOOO HEAAAAATTTTTTT
Heat finally hit the jackpot! Keep in mind Shaq's past his prime and is gettin old... BUT... he still took the team to the finals past 2 years, I don't know about winnin a championship but I certainly hope Heat gets worth of what they've give away cause wow... those guys are list of great young talents right there.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TymeWorthy:</div><div class="quote_post">key players Miami= *hopefully ALSTON will sign hes pleased with the team i also heard Nash or a good counterpiece is coming IF they have and money but if the Shaq deal goes through i doubt it</div>This is news to me. I was under the impression that Alston is signing with Toronto and Nash is signing with Phoenix. I think the likelyhood any of those things happening are about....0
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting RiverspoonJones:</div><div class="quote_post">Just a couple of points: Odom and Caron Butler are not All-Stars, and will likely not be for a number of years. I'm sure Dwyane Wade will be very happy to defer to Shaquille O'Neal, and still have the opportunity to put up 20ppg. This guy is the polar opposite of Kobe Bryant in terms of attitude. How do you match up with the Pistons now? A hell of a lot better than you did last year. No teams with said 'running game' have won the NBA championship since the 1980s.</div> Odom would have made the All Star east next year if he keeps his level of play. Butler only needs and injury free season to make it as well, remember he was as good as Wade in his rookie year. I like a fast breaking, running team against the Pistons a lot better. This team will not be any better against them than the Lakers were in the Finals. I don't think Wade needs to defer to no one and that's not the point - how long until Shaq starts bitching that the offense has to run through him? And finally, no team with a fading superstar as the centerpiece has won anything... uh, since ever.
Odom was the biggest allstar snub this year, if he was playing for a media frenzy team like the Lakers he would have been an allstar. All these national sports writers are really pissing me off. They don't know anything and everything they've printed or said has been pure speculation and nothing more. The only sports writer that I can trust for Heat inside information is Ira Winderman, all the south florida people know who he is. Until Riley or Pfund has a press conference where they clearly state "Shaq is coming to Miami" I won't believe a word any of these sports writers say.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting killahurtz:</div><div class="quote_post">PG: Alston SG: Wade-his natural position-scoring would increase F : Butler PF: Odum C : Dampier-free agent right now-rebounder and shot blocker</div> If Miami re-signed Alston, they wouldn't have been able to sign Dampier.
How many all-star games do the 3 heat players have combined? How Many finals appearances? Brian Grant has the worst contract in the NBA, Heat fans should be at church tonight thankful just for that portion of the trade. The heat get Shaq and they don't even give up their best player? And people are here complaining? Here is a good way to judge a trade, which team will go further in the playoffs and have a better record than last year? The lakers will not make the finals with those three guys, the heat are top three in the east now with pacers and pistons. Lastly everyone on here that seems to sold on the three heat players, remember they have been in the east playing sorry teams. You know who likes this trade: Webber, Garnett, Yao, Duncan They can't wait to shove Shaq out the door, Shaq will own the East score 40 at will! Odom, Butler and Grant will be mediocre at best in the west. Wade was the only guy with any 4th quarter gonads last year anyways, He and shaq make a good one two punch.
Did anyone who thinks this is a good trade watch the nba finals? The pistons absolutely murdered the lakers.Nobody is scared of shaq anymore. He played the same we he always did & the games werent even close. Coaches know how to play against him now. If the lakers & kobe cant win the finals with him then what makes miami think they will? Why dont you think l.a. wont dump kobe & try to keep him? They know that Detroit just changed the way the nba is going to play ball. They want a deep team that can run the floor & play with intensity, that why they're going to rob you. Miami was fun to watch this past year, you ran the floor extremely well & played tough defense. Look how far you got in the playoffs with a coach in his first year & a team still developing its chemistry. If you had figured out a way to win a game on the road you wouldve been in the eastern finals & been a better match against detroit then the lakers were. Grant's contract is gone thats true but after this year if you want to keep shaq you need to sign him again, he knows he's leaving the league in like 2 or 3 years so do you think he's going to come cheap? I'm a Washington fan & I wouldnt give up any of our young players for him, D.C. has learned its lesson on trades. You dont trade young promise for old faded glory. You sign players like him as free agents, you dont trade away more than half your starting lineup. If I were a Miami fan I would pray this doesnt happen
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Dr. H.H. Holmes:</div><div class="quote_post">Did anyone who thinks this is a good trade watch the nba finals? The pistons absolutely murdered the lakers.Nobody is scared of shaq anymore. He played the same we he always did & the games werent even close. Coaches know how to play against him now. If the lakers & kobe cant win the finals with him then what makes miami think they will? Why dont you think l.a. wont dump kobe & try to keep him? They know that Detroit just changed the way the nba is going to play ball. They want a deep team that can run the floor & play with intensity, that why they're going to rob you. Miami was fun to watch this past year, you ran the floor extremely well & played tough defense. Look how far you got in the playoffs with a coach in his first year & a team still developing its chemistry. If you had figured out a way to win a game on the road you wouldve been in the eastern finals & been a better match against detroit then the lakers were. Grant's contract is gone thats true but after this year if you want to keep shaq you need to sign him again, he knows he's leaving the league in like 2 or 3 years so do you think he's going to come cheap? I'm a Washington fan & I wouldnt give up any of our young players for him, D.C. has learned its lesson on trades. You dont trade young promise for old faded glory. You sign players like him as free agents, you dont trade away more than half your starting lineup. If I were a Miami fan I would pray this doesnt happen</div> Well put, this is the exact point I have been trying to get across. People are just so caught up in the nostalgia of having Shaq that they aren't being realistic about this. I am confident this deal will not go down and I have faith that Riley and Pfund will do the right thing.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Dr. H.H. Holmes:</div><div class="quote_post">Did anyone who thinks this is a good trade watch the nba finals? The pistons absolutely murdered the lakers.Nobody is scared of shaq anymore. He played the same we he always did & the games werent even close. Coaches know how to play against him now. </div> Shaq averaged 26.6 points, and shot 60% from the field during the finals, and you are saying that coaches know how to play against him???? Please, cut me a break. Sure the lakers got swept, but you can't possibly blame him with the above statline. The reason the lakers lost is because of their lack of depth, and no one besides shaq and kobe contributed (and kobe did not contribute enough). The bottom line is that everyone is scared of shaq, there is not a single player in the nba who will volunteer to guard that monster. He is still unstoppable, especially during the playoffs (but one man will not win games). But with that being said, shaq will hurt miami. This was a team that was young and upcoming, with a lot of room for improvement next year. It baffles me completely why miami decided to pull the trigger on this trade when a better way to improve the team was to bring in a more solid bench and wait for the younger guys on the team to develop. I think they may even risk missing out on the playoffs, because shaq will most certainly not play in 82 games (he's played in exactly 67 games this past three seasons), and miami just doesn't have any depth as of now. With Brian Grant, Odom, Alston and Butler gone - this team doesn't have much. Especially when shaq isn't playing. In the best case scenario, this team will lose to Detroit in the playoffs. The lakers had kobe and shaq and they were swept. Miami has dwayne wede and shaq and will most certainly fare no better against them.
Does anyone think that Wade/Odom/Butler was a championship nucleus? Because I don't. You just can't win without something on the inside, and what better than Shaq. Don't believe the hype, he's still very much productive. If Kobe spent less time jacking up terrible shots instead of getting it inside to Shaq, we could have a different NBA champion right now. Miami's current nucleus is Shaq/Wade/Jones Miami's long-term nucleus is Wade/Wright/30 million worth of free agents <font size="1">(Shaq + EJ = 40 million, with Wade presumably signed to the max)</font> Both are better in the short and long term than Wade/Odom/Butler.
Just to clarify..... I didnt mean teams had an answer to him specifically, they just know that a team with him on it isnt invincible. Sure there isnt a player in the league who can stop him, but the lakers got trashed, not because shaq wasnt producing (26.6 60% from the field) but because like you said, they had no depth. I think teams know now just to let shaq do his thing, which means no double teams to free up other players. That lakers team was good enough to get by Houston, San Antonio & Minnesota but the pistons did the one thing that no other team had done before against L.A., they never changed their style of play to double team shaq. They played the Lakers like they played every other team & L.A. went down faster then any eastern opponent they had. If Miami makes the trade they get one good player for 3 possible 4 contributors, they move 1 step forward 3 steps back. So your right, the individual who covers shaq will be scared & coaches dont know how to shut him down as an individual but is the team scared, no. Teams arent scared because unless he doubles his scoring average to 50/60 a game or is on a team with more than 1 good player, then who cares?
Just to clarify..... I didnt mean teams had an answer to him specifically, they just know that a team with him on it isnt invincible. Sure there isnt a player in the league who can stop him, but the lakers got trashed, not because shaq wasnt producing (26.6 60% from the field) but because like you said, they had no depth. I think teams know now just to let shaq do his thing, which means no double teams to free up other players. That lakers team was good enough to get by Houston, San Antonio & Minnesota but the pistons did the one thing that no other team had done before against L.A., they never changed their style of play to double team shaq. They played the Lakers like they played every other team & L.A. went down faster then any eastern opponent they had. If Miami makes the trade they get one good player for 3 possible 4 contributors, they move 1 step forward 3 steps back. So your right, the individual who covers shaq will be scared & coaches dont know how to shut him down as an individual but is the team scared, no. Teams arent scared because unless he doubles his scoring average to 50/60 a game or is on a team with more than 1 good player, then who cares?
Who let the guy from Washington into the discussion? Yeah if the Heat wanted good advice on how to build a winner they should follow the Washinton Gameplan! Are you freakin kidding man? Two weeks ago there was talks of Nowitzki or Webber coming to Holly wood and now the lakers score Lamar Odom? Do you think lamar odom is as good as Webber or nowitzki? Cause I dont. Like I said before we will see who fares better next season, The heat will win more games than they did last year the lakers will not, if anything this is a trade that makes neither team better. But for God sakes stop talking like the Shaq deal is breaking up the 1980's celtics here, they still have wade and the High school kid and those where arguably the 2 best young guys anyways. As for the Wizards fan I'm sorry you are sold on potential lots of teams have potential see Portland Trailblazers, LA Clippers and Chicago bulls all have had good talent over the past few years and won nothing. The Heat are in good position now and will have tons of money for FA when Shaq leaves.
Call me crazy but I thought this was a place where people could talk about basketball. If you actually looked at what I said you would realize <u>you are</u> following the "washington gameplan". It's called trading young for old. We had a young playoff team in '97 in a similar situation as the heat & we got rid of all the young players, we havent made the playoffs since. The reason I'm sold on potentional is because a month ago I watched 3 ex-wizards "with potential" slap the lakers around like they were nothing & send shaq home with his tail between his legs. Not to mention Webber leading the Kings to the playoffs for years, theres more washington potential for you. By the way if you think for one second that Webber is the same player he was before his injury, then you have lost your mind. Do you think it was a coincidence that the Kings fell out of sync & started losing like crazy when he came back? In their last matchup Lamar had 30pts 19reb & 11asts against Cwebb. I personally sat in the stands in DC & watched Kwame Brown get his career high against Webber, 30pts 20rebs. Just because I'm a fan of Washington doesnt mean I agree with their decisions, I dont get to make them, I'm just loyal to my home team.
The wizards traded for guys about the same age and just did some stupid stuff, like getting Stackhouse, though hopefully they have gotten back on track with the Jamison deal (Cuban got hosed on that one!) But the point is you cant win with all potential it takes a mix of young and old, Those ex-wizards have matured and guys like Rasheed and Hunter are seasoned vets, not to mention Larry Brown the age old coach. The Heat had a good nucleas here but they would never gotten any further than they did this year. Like I said Wade is the best player they had and they will still have him so they are fine. Don't forget Shaq makes all the guys around him better he makes their job easier. Odom will not put up numbers like that in the western conference I dont know if you east coast guys only watch the early games on TV but if you stayed up later you would see that the west is stacked with players. Just wait and see what guys like shaq and jamison do out east they will rip it up and put up numbers like crazy.
I agree you need both veteran & young players to win but its better to acquire veterans through free agency instead of trading the young players away. It just takes patience & time, adding players to your roster but not overhauling the whole thing. (Except when you rip off a team like the wiz did to the mavs, I still cant believe they took Stack & Laetner.) Dont get me wrong, Shaq isnt bad player by all means but he really is past his prime & nothing to build a future around anymore, he just doesnt have much time left. All the Wizards' trades were stupid, young for old. We had Rasheed for 1 year & we traded him for Rod Strickland (8 year vet) , Webber in his 5th year for Mitch Richmond (11 year vet), Ben Wallace in his 3rd year for ugh Ike Austin (8 year vet), Hamilton in his fourth for Stack (8 year vet) , We have nothing to show for any of those trades except another teams championship. Shaq made players better because he would get double & triple teamed,leaving them wide open, I dont think your going to see teams do that anymore.
All you crazy guys in here complaining about this being a bad trade and that Shaq is too old, just shut up! This is a GREAT TRADE. Shaq is WAY BETTER than all of the guys we're getting rid of totalled. Would you rather have Wade and Shaq, or Wade, Odom and Butler? Shaq can average more points than both of those players combined! And obviously, the Heat team didn't work out last year, because they lost in the second round. Now with Shaq, who can score 30 and 20 every night, can put them in the NBA Finals. Oh, and Shaq old and lazy? You call the best player in history besides MJ, who is capable of 30-40 and 20 every night, old and lazy? Please, go home kids! You obviously don't know anything! GOOD TRADE, PERIOD.
