Been trying to follow the drafting/trading lately but having a little trouble. Anyone here watch a lot of basketball trading and notice some of the very stupid things I have seen? Well what I am mainly talking about is the MONUMENTAL mistake the lakers are about to make. Why the hell would you EVER trade shaq for lamar odom, brian grant and a draft pick? Brian grant is a sack of shit. Lamar odom while being good has had a history of problems. As for draft pick... fuck that.

Sure it sounds good...no...but there are so many other teams offering so mcuh more. Now I hate the lakers regardless of the fact I am from LA. I also think Shaq has no skill. He does however have size which MORe than makes up for it though I guess. He scores points though in the end. To me if LA was smart they would make a deal with mark cuban for like dirk nowitzki, michael finley, antoine walker etc. Hell sacramento offered up chris webber in a trade as well as peja in a trade. I also heard that spurs were talking about some trade which I am sure would involve some very skilled players.

Now this brings me back to my original point. If you can trade shaq for REAL players, not 2nd rate cock smokers, why don't you? Just some food for thought.

A lot of it has to do with his salary I think. He makes what, 29 mil a year? That cuts your trade options down fast. Agree that the Mavs would have been a good choice since they have a lot of pretty quality players on their roster, but they weren't willing to give up Dirk and I also don't think L.A. wanted him to stay in the west anyway. Sending him to either Sacremento or Dallas could have been a huge problem for the lakers come the playoffs no matter who they managed to get for Shaq.

I think LA is also going to get Caron Butler, not that he's going to make it a good trade :p I would never, ever trade Shaq, he's still the most dominant player in the game. They really didn't have much of a choice though I guess, he would have left after next season anyway and they'd have nothing to show for it. At least they get a couple guys that could (potentially) be real good.

Shaq is getting old and is a big baby lol. It was either loose Shaq or loose Kobe. At least Kobe is young, with Shaq he will be done in a couple years. I am pretty sure the Lakers are gonna trade Grant, 1st round pick and some others away for a shot blocker like Eric Dampier though, Dampier expressed that he wanted to play for the Lakers.

Thinking the Laker line up will be somewhat like this: GP, Kobe, Butler, Odom, Dampier. With that lineup they will still be a top contender. Good thing is that with Shaq out of the west Yao will be the best center in the west, improving the Rockets. With T-mac and Yao the Rockets will be a nice contender in the west this year.

Looks like the Lakers want a fast team that runs the floor. Mavs were not gonna deal Nowitzki, Walker sucks balls for his big contract and Finley is past his prime. Webber is getting old aswell and after his injury he hasn't been the same. Peja is best shooter in the league, but hes just that, a shooter, theres games where he is amazing and hits them all, but others he is cold.

Kobe is in for a rude awakening. Still... Shaq is about 3/4 of the player he could be the last couple of years. I don't think he's into it anymore and his legs are finally breaking down as well. I think they're making the right decision between the two but still I hate Kobe, hate his style of play, and wish him the worst.

Come on though... we in Seattle would gladly have given you Rashard Lewis, Jerome James, Calvin Booth, and Ansu Sesay for him. Hell I'd throw in Ray Allen.

i think what the lakers GM and owner are trying to do is hide the fact that their lakers dynasty team is over. There is no way they can keep kobe or shaq. Salary and ego's are blowing it up. As for coahing, i think its going to be a new interesting year, see if he puts up with there crap. But IMO....even if they keep kobe, trade shaq, they will never be as good as they once were, no doubt. They may all be trying to hold onto something they once had but can't seem to put a grasp on things. Shaq will get traded no doubt, gonna be interesting to see who he goes to and what they get for him though.

The deal is complete Jilohango, its Shaq to Miami Heat for Odom, Butler, Grant, 1st round pick. Will be offical soon, but its agreed verbally atm.

I think everyone is in agreement that Jerry Buss is an idiot. But hey, some people place their ego above winning. In his eyes, Kobe is a big crowd pleaser, and he's young.

Deal was finalized

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylc=X3oDMTBpYTg2ZTBwBF9TAzk1ODYxOTQ4BHNlYwN0 bQ--?slug=ap-lakers-heattrade&prov=ap&type=lgns

I'm not in agreement that Buss is an idiot. His track record proves otherwise.

Check your stats. What's Shaq's scoring average on 1 night's rest versus 2 night's rest? Here's a hint, it sucks. He's getting old. He's getting tired. He *IS* the most domanant big-man in the game, but he's not as dominant as he was a few years ago.

Should he manage to keep his sodomizing tool out of prison, Kobe *IS* the future of the Lakers.

Consider also that Shaq didn't WANT to be in LA. What's that going to give you? It'd end up like Johnson's last year in Seattle. :)