NBA Offseason News and Moves

[Dangerous A 0]

Good point, STR. The Lakers are jettisoning a coach who has 9 championships and the most dominant player at his position in basketball to appease Kobe.

 

Whatever floats their boat, I guess. Both LA teams are probrably figuring that while they won't be championship teams, they will at least have a crowd draw with Kobe in tow.

[Guest Redhawk]

I wonder if having Shaq on the Heat will compel Pat Riley to send Stan Van Gundy one seat down the bench and become head coach again.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Well ESPN said Pat Riley respects Stan Van Gundy too much to remove him from the head coaching spot, but Stan Van Gundy respects Pat Riley enough to allow that to happen.

 

Which brings me to my conclusion: Stan looks like a porn star.

[Guest Redhawk]

So the Heat lineup for now would be: (1) Dwyane Wade, (2) Eddie Jones, (3) Dorrell Wright, (4) Udonis Haslem and (5) Shaq, with a bench of Rasual Butler, Matt Freije, Malik Allen and Samaki Walker, among others.

 

And the Lakers have (1) Gary Payton, (2) Kobe Bryant, (3) Caron Butler, (4) Lamar Odom and (5) Brian Grant, with Karl Malone, Derek Fisher, Devean George and Luke Walton on the bench.

 

Just from that it looks like the Lakers got the best out of the deal

 

On a somewhat-related note. After going to the Miami Heat website, apparently the official team name is the "HEAT". Not "Heat." "HEAT." Every reference to the team on the website is in all caps. The newspapers in Miami don't even comply, however.

[Dangerous A 0]

And the Lakers have (1) Gary Payton, (2) Kobe Bryant, (3) Caron Butler, (4) Lamar Odom and (5) Brian Grant, with Karl Malone, Derek Fisher, Devean George and Luke Walton on the bench.

 

Just from that it looks like the Lakers got the best out of the deal

I am not so sure about what the Lakers actually have. Malone and Fisher are not Lakers. They are free agents. They may or may not be on the team this season. Payton is asking out now that Shaq is gone because he is not liking the chances the Lakers have for a championship. Kobe belongs in the same boat as Malone and Fisher because he is also a free agent. Odom is good. Butler is good. I am not so sure why Grant gets so much love though. He will not fair well in the West, IMO.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

I hope Kobe goes to the Clippers. That would be beautiful.

 

If Malone can't sign onto a team that can get him a ring then he'll probably sap some team out of most of its cash and then break Wilt's record. I don't see him retiring without doing one of those two things.

[Guest The Winter Of My Discontent]

The Heat will not win a championship, Shaq will be a bust, and he will never come close to regain his old form.

[razazteca 0]

What are the odds that Lamar Odom goes back to being the trouble maker that he was when he last played in LA?

[Guest The Winter Of My Discontent]

I'm going to laugh so hard if Kobe ends up resigning with the Lakers after all the Clippers have done to try to get to land him.

Are you on drugs? Imagine if Kobe goes to the Clips, the lakers traded away Shaq for no reason, and did not attempt to lure Phil back in.

[Dangerous A 0]

What are the odds that Lamar Odom goes back to being the trouble maker that he was when he last played in LA?

I'd say about 50/50.

[Dangerous A 0]

The Heat will not win a championship, Shaq will be a bust, and he will never come close to regain his old form.

I don't think Shaq will win a championship in Miami, but I do think a move to the East will help prolong his career a smidge because the comp is more lax. I also think he'll have a chip on his shoulder and will want to prove his detractors wrong by coming into camp in shape. I think he'll have a very good year, he just won't win a championship.

[ant_7000 0]

I don't know why Miami made this deal without getting someone else besides Shaq. They could've convice the lakers to give up Kareem Rush or Brian Cook. I think Kobe will stay now that Shaq and Phil are gone. Now the Lakers have some youth on the squad but now they're undersized and don't have point guard if Payton and Fisher leaves.

[Dangerous A 0]

Shaq's salary was so high they couldn't make the deal work with more guys from LA is why it was 3 for 1.

 

Payton may still have a smidge of value since Tomjanovich will probrably run a more traditional offense of the point and number one option touching the ball more. Fisher will prove to be a below average point IMO because his spot up jump shooting is his best offensive asset. He is a suspect ball handler, is not the fastest guy and won't burn most point guards off the dribble and is not creative enough off the dribble to either take the ball to the rim consistently or draw a double through penetration and kick to the open guy. Defensively, he is a very good on the ball defender, but he can be beat by the younger guys. Fisher is very overrated IMO.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

a much more likely lineup for the Lakers

 

Payton (or Fisher, who would come back if Payton leaves I'm guessing)

Kobe

Odom

Grant

Some Guy

 

It's one thing to put Odom and Grant at 4 and 5 in the East, but against real big men they would get owned up and down the block.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

The Lakers are jettisoning a coach who has 9 championships

Are you sure it's not a case of Jackson seeing the team falling apart, and getting the hell out so he doesn't go down with the ship?

 

Besides, Jackson is overrated. Sure, he's a good coach, but I wouldn't call him great. He won his titles with tremendously talented teams. Let's see him take over a down-trodden team and build a title-winner.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Maybe the Clippers should be going after Phil Jackson rather than Kobe. I think they've got a LOT more problems than Kobe alone can help them solve, and I don't think Kobe would relish being on a losing squad much.

 

And the Lakers have (1) Gary Payton, (2) Kobe Bryant, (3) Caron Butler, (4) Lamar Odom and (5) Brian Grant, with Karl Malone, Derek Fisher, Devean George and Luke Walton on the bench

 

Well, as noted above, I'm also pretty sure Malone won't remain with the team and Payton is iffy. But you forgot to put in Kareem Rush and Brian Cook, neither of whom are free agents and are going to remain with the team and make a difference eventually.

 

If Fisher heads out to Houston, I think we'd see our first Laker-clone there, with Yao playing the Shaq role and T-Mac playing the Kobe role, and Fisher playing... well, Fisher.

 

Fisher will prove to be a below average point IMO because his spot up jump shooting is his best offensive asset. He is a suspect ball handler, is not the fastest guy and won't burn most point guards off the dribble and is not creative enough off the dribble to either take the ball to the rim consistently or draw a double through penetration and kick to the open guy. Defensively, he is a very good on the ball defender, but he can be beat by the younger guys. Fisher is very overrated IMO.

 

Stop hatin' on the Fish. He's one of LA's most clutch guys (0.4, anyone?), is constantly a threat from out deep, and he's fast enough to run with most of the opposition. I remember Fisher being drafted to cover for Nick Van Exel leaving, and they play a pretty similar style. As you mentioned, he won't take the ball inside, but that's why you've got Kobe in that situation (or Yao or T-Mac in Houston). Fisher's value is on defense and from out deep, and that's good enough at least for a damn good 6th man or a starting PG, and right now LA doesn't seem to have very many other options.

 

So are the Lakers going to stick with Grant playing center, or will they try to pick up someone in free agency? Who's available that they can work with, anyways? I heard Vladi Divac was a FA, it'd be nice to have him back as a backup.

[nogoodnick 0]

If the Lakers could sign Divac I think it would benefit them and Brian Grant for Vlade to start. BG isn't gonna be a good center out west. He played quite well in Portland though when he was a PF with Sabonis at C.

 

I doubt Malone would ever sign back with the Lakers and I still think he should go to Miami if hes gonna play again. As for Fisher, I think he would fit in to Houston much better than he would in LA. He benefited from having a dominant big man these last couple of years.

[Steviekick 0]

From what I've been reading on the major sports news pages, it seems that Dallas and San Antonio are interested in Malone.

 

Fisher would be a good fit in Houston, and I think he'd do well in Van Gundy's system.

[Damaramu 0]

I loved Shaq's interview on Sportscenter when they asked him something about the internal going on's next season with the Lakers he says

"I don't know. I don't play for the LA Lakers. I play for the Miami Heat."

[The Czech Republic 0]

Shaq: I'm a Heatian, I guess. Isn't that what I would be? Miami Heat? Heatian?

 

 

Let's all thank Shaquille O'Neal for helping us realize that of COURSE there are names for individuals on a singlar-noun team after all. So come on, you Heatians, you Magicians, you Jazzmen, come on, you Avalanchers, Lightningites, and DC Unitedites: You are something now.

[Sass 0]

If everything works out then the Lakers might end up getting Divac (while dropping Slava) and keeping Derek Fisher (who wants to stay apparently).

 

If Karl, GP, Fox and Slava leave and Kobe stays then this is what next year's team could look like:

 

Starters:

 

Kobe Bryant

Derek Fisher

Vlade Divac

Lamar Odom

Caron Butler

 

Bench:

 

Kareem Rush

Luke Walton

Brian Grant

Devean George

Brian Cook

 

This team could win a championship with Rudy T as head coach.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I would be surprised if Kobe doesnt sign with the Clippers. The ultimate thing that he can do is turn a losing organization into a winner, pretty much by himself. Aside from going to the Wizards, the Clippers would be the best team to do that.

[MrRant 0]

Gary Payton has decided against pushing for a buyout or trade in the wake of the Shaquille O'Neal deal and intends to return to the Los Angeles Lakers next season, the guard told ESPN Radio on Wednesday.

 

"I had a big pow-wow with my agents and my attorneys and everybody today," Payton said in Wednesday's interview. "You guys know I came out here to play with Shaq ... and now he's [been] traded. It was a big question in my mind, should I stay here? But, you know, I think I made a commitment. I made them a commitment to come back to the Lakers and I'm going to go and play."

 

Shortly after the Lakers were ousted by Detroit in the NBA Finals, Payton bypassed free agency and exercised a $5.4 million option for next season. Yet league sources told ESPN.com on Sunday that Payton, so disturbed by the idea of O'Neal being dealt to the Heat without an established power player coming in return, was planning to push for a buyout of his contract this week.

 

In Tuesday's editions of the Riverside (Ca.) Press-Enterprise, Payton expounded on his displeasure by saying that only the return of Karl Malone could make him want to play for the Lakers next season.

 

"If they don't sign Karl [Malone] back, then I'll probably get up out of here," Payton told the paper. "They're going to buy me out or trade me, or something. If Karl don't come back, I ain't coming back."

 

On Wednesday, Payton credited new Lakers coach Rudy Tomjanovich for his change of heart.

 

"Rudy T. has made a big difference in that, too," said Payton, who played for Tomjanovich at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

 

"Becoming the coach, he says he's going to give me the freedom to play the way I played in Seattle. So I'll be OK with that, so as long as we get a team together.

 

"The three guys we got [from Miami] are going to help us a lot. We're going to run, and if we get Kobe back, it will be even better."

 

Payton's initial reaction to the acquisition of Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, Caron Butler and a future first-round pick was less than enthusiastic. In the Press-Enterprise, in reference to the Lakers' sudden lack of size up front, Payton was quoted as saying: "I mean, what team are they going to put on the floor?"

 

Payton, who turns 36 on July 23, started in every game for the Lakers: 104 including his 22 playoff starts. He averaged 14.6 points and 5.5 assists during the regular season, but struggled mightily in the playoffs in Phil Jackson's triangle offense, a system he never embraced.

 

Essentially reduced to a spot-up shooter, Payton averaged just 4.2 points and missed 19 of 28 field-goal attempts in the postseason, but Tomjanovich believes his up-tempo system will rejuvenate the player known as The Glove.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

The Nets have apparently reached some sort of deal with the Nuggets for KMart. He'll sign a 7 year max contract with the Nets and then go to the Nuggets, and the Nets will get the Nuggets 3 extra first rounders. Denver picked up 3 first round picks in the next 2 years through assorted trades with assorted teams. I aint looking them up at 3 AM though.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Well, at first reading that article I said well, goodbye Derek Fisher until I read this line:

 

"If they don't sign Karl [Malone] back, then I'll probably get up out of here," Payton told the paper. "They're going to buy me out or trade me, or something. If Karl don't come back, I ain't coming back."

 

Sorry GP, that's not going to happen. The scenario I envision happening at guard is either Payton leaves or Fisher leaves, I don't see both leaving or both staying. Maybe Payton can play again, but after how I saw him get burned the fuck up by Tony Parker in this past year's LA-SA series, add another year of age, and trust me his defensive play has nothing to do with the triangle offense, he's just not as good as he used to be, but I'm sure could flash the occasional brilliance like Malone or like Shaq is now becoming.

 

If everything works out then the Lakers might end up getting Divac (while dropping Slava) and keeping Derek Fisher (who wants to stay apparently).

 

If Karl, GP, Fox and Slava leave and Kobe stays then this is what next year's team could look like:

 

Starters:

 

Kobe Bryant

Derek Fisher

Vlade Divac

Lamar Odom

Caron Butler

 

Bench:

 

Kareem Rush

Luke Walton

Brian Grant

Devean George

Brian Cook

 

This team could win a championship with Rudy T as head coach.

 

Is there anything saying Vlad(i/e?) Divac might be interested in coming back to the purple and gold? I think after the archrivalry that has been the Sacramento-LA series the past few years might have him be a bit more loyal to the Kings, although he really first started to shine with LA. It's a smallish team outside of Divac, and it's a big question if that team could handle big guys like Duncan, Garnett, Yao, and now T-Mac, but if an undersized Pistons squad could whip LA with sheer athleticism and defense, then I think that team has a shot if they can bring Divac or another big guy in.

[jimmy no nose 0]

Well, at first reading that article I said well, goodbye Derek Fisher until I read this line:

 

"If they don't sign Karl [Malone] back, then I'll probably get up out of here," Payton told the paper. "They're going to buy me out or trade me, or something. If Karl don't come back, I ain't coming back."

I think you misread. That's the statement he made on Tuesday, but then changed it on Wednesday.

 

On Wednesday, Payton credited new Lakers coach Rudy Tomjanovich for his change of heart.

[Dangerous A 0]

Sass, you've got a lot more faith in Rudy T than I do. That team you listed is decent and is definitely a playoff team. However, I do not feel it is a championship team. Those guys have to gel and get acclimated in a new system before I can start to call them a championship type team.

[Dangerous A 0]

I find it fascinating that when Divac starts being talked about in Purple and Gold, he is all of a sudden younger and a bigger impact player. However, when spoken of in Kings terms, he is a shriveled up old man who needs to hang it up.

[The Electrifyer 0]

Vlade's old, but he doesn't have to hang it up just yet. He's been pretty effective with his passing and slow-motion lay-ups.

[alfdogg 0]

I know there are a lot of transactions left to be made, but these would be my power rankings *right now* for the West

 

1. SA

2. Minnesota

3. Sacramento

4. Lakers

5. Memphis

6. Denver

7. Dallas

8. Houston

9. Utah

10. Phoenix

11. Portland

12. Seattle

13. New Orleans

14. Clippers

15. Golden State