|
O'Neal goes to Heat
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-15 08:36
In what is surely one of the biggest trades in the National Basketball
Association in nearly 30 years, the Los Angeles Lakers sent Shaquille O'Neal to
the Miami Heat today for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and a future
first-round draft choice.
Los Angeles Lakers
Shaquille O'Neal (L) dunks during Game 2 of the NBA Finals in Los Angeles,
in this June 8, 2004 file photo. The Miami Heat acquired O'Neal from the
Lakers July 14, 2004 in exchange for Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, Caron Butler
and a first-round draft pick. O'Neal, who announced after the Lakers lost
in the finals to Detroit that he wanted to be traded, returns to Florida
where he played the first four years of his career with the Orlando Magic.
[Reuters] |
The move ends the adversarial, yet
successful, tandem of O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, who led the Lakers to three
championships in the last five seasons despite a powerful dislike for each other
that captivated the league and its fans. It also sends O'Neal to the Eastern
Conference, lending competitive balance to a league that has been strongly
tilted toward the West since Michael Jordan retired from the Chicago Bulls six
seasons ago — the Detroit Pistons' surprising title run last season
notwithstanding.
"It's a huge trade," Washington General Manager Ernie Grunfeld said. "Any
time a player of his magnitude gets traded, it sends shock waves around the
league because it doesn't happen very often."
While great players are often traded — Orlando sent Tracy McGrady to Houston
last month — no one of O'Neal's stature has been moved near his prime since
Milwaukee dealt Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers in 1975. In the 1980's,
Abdul-Jabbar teamed with Magic Johnson to lead the Lakers to five championships
earning them their "Showtime" nickname and status as the league's glamour team.
Los Angeles Lakers
center Shaquille O'Neal (34) posts up on Miami Heat forward Brian Grant
during NBA action in Miami, Florida in this November 26, 2002 file photo.
[Reuters] |
Like Abdul-Jabbar before him,
O'Neal will team up with a dazzling young point guard in Miami, Dwyane Wade.
Eddie Jones, O'Neal's former teammate in Los Angeles and the Heat's leading
scorer the past four seasons, will start at shooting guard, giving Miami a
threesome that should enable it to compete with Detroit, Indiana and New Jersey
for the Eastern crown.
Miami is thin elsewhere and has little money to offer free agents, but
O'Neal's presence could entice free agents to play for the Heat for less money.
There has been speculation that Karl Malone and Derek Fisher, O'Neal's former
teammates in Los Angeles, could follow O'Neal to Miami.
The architect of the Lakers' "Showtime" era was Pat Riley, who coached them
to four titles. The acquisition of O'Neal puts Riley, now the Heat president, in
position to win his first championship since leaving Los Angeles in 1990.
"Today the Miami Heat took a giant step forward in our continued pursuit of
an N.B.A. championship for the city of Miami and this franchise," Riley said.
"It has always been about winning for us and trying to win championships. We
feel that we have traded for the best player in the N.B.A."
O'Neal is 32 years old and coming off the lowest-scoring season of his
career, 21.5 points per game. But the drop was due largely to the addition of
Malone and Gary Payton, former superstars whose presence limited O'Neal's shot
attempts to just 14.1 per game, more than four below his career average.
While the move should rejuvenate the Heat, which has seen ticket sales
increase since news of the impending trade broke last week, it remains to be
seen what will come of the Lakers.
What was once one of the most star-studded and accomplished rosters of
all-time has been pared down to Bryant, the fading star Payton and a group of
players without one all-star appearance among them. And that, of course, is
assuming that Bryant re-signs with the Lakers.
A free agent, Bryant is considering accepting a six-year offer worth roughly
$100 million from the Los Angeles Clippers. The Lakers have offered him $136
million over seven years. Bryant's status is clouded by his legal future; he
will stand trial on charges of sexual assault beginning Aug. 27. If convicted,
he could face four years to life in prison.
While Bryant's silence about his future increases the suspense, the Lakers
appear to believe he will be in their lineup next season. They have granted his
every wish — letting Phil Jackson go as coach, pursuing Mike Krzyzewski as
Jackson's replacement, trading O'Neal K— in attempting to appease him, yet
Bryant has yet to commit to returning.
Even if Bryant is a Laker next season, it could be difficult for the team to
make the Western Conference playoffs as presently constituted. Odom and Butler
are both small forwards, and Butler figures to come off the bench. Grant, 32, is
an undersized, aging, injury-prone power forward/center whose better days are
behind him. Without O'Neal and Malone, the Lakers probably do not have the size
to contend in the West, where most of the league's top big men play.
For O'Neal, it is a return to Florida, where he began his career with the
Orlando Magic. O'Neal left Orlando after four seasons, signing a free-agent
contract with the Lakers. But he has remained fond of the area, maintaining an
off-season home in Orlando.
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top Sports
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
