Shaq needs to be traded before July 1st?

[slinslin]

The Philadelphia Inquirer: As July 1st moves closer and closer, the Lakers are becoming slightly nervous that they will be unable to move Shaquille O'Neal. With Mavericks owner Mark Cuban standing as firm as he can on not relinquishing Dirk Nowitzki, the Lakers are speaking to other clubs with even greater urgency. Reports indicate that the Clippers, Pacers and even the Kings are in the running.

If O'Neal is not traded before July 1st, the Lakers situation with Kobe Bryant becomes that much trickier. It is clear that it will take a small miracle for these two superstars to ever play together again and if O'Neal is still on the Laker roster, Kobe will likely test the open market with even greater tenacity.

The San Antonio Spurs are readying their summer courtship of a superstar, much in the same way they did last year for Jason Kidd. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker will actively recruit Bryant to come to Texas, which is the place most suited for Kobe to win championships. His goal this summer though, besides his Colorado trial, is to begin building a championship team up from scratch, a la his imitated idol Michael Jordan, with the Suns being the leading contenders in that category.


http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/9008444.htm?1c

 

[JS22]

i still think that there is more of a chance of him coming to phx then most believe.

I'd say 50/50 at this point.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

oh god i hope this comes to fruition.

 

[cardsunsfan]

I think that's the only way we get a championship the next five years... unless some kind of miracle happens....

 

[Evil Ash]

i still think that there is more of a chance of him coming to phx then most believe.

I'd say 50/50 at this point.

Ditto although I still think its a little less than 50/50.

The Lakers are doing everything in their power to keep Kobe such giving him power in personnel decisions and offering more money but Kobe still hasn't budged on his decision to test FA.

I think it won't come down to the money (he can get a nice contract wherever he goes as well as money for a shoe deal) and the power. What I think it will ultimatley come down to is his ego.

If he feels that he will never credit that he thinks he deserves (which is entirely possible since everything I've heard so far out of LA is blame and not praise for Kobe), he will leave the Lakers without hesitation IMO. He wants to be the star and be given credit.

Thats why I think if he leaves LA, Phoenix is his most likely choice. We have some good pieces (Amare, JJ, and Marion) already in place and he would still be the superstar on this team. So it would be viewed as his team.

 

[Bada0Bing]

I'm with you guys on this. If Kobe comes, all of these odd moves will make them look like geniuses.

 

[Evil Ash]

I'm with you guys on this. If Kobe comes, all of these odd moves will make them look like geniuses.

It does seem weird that whether or not our offseason can be considered a success will be based on the decisions of 2 players.

If Francis doesn't like Orlando, we probably get TMac
If Kobe doesn't think he will ever get credit in LA, we probably get Kobe

2 things that the Suns really can't do anything about.

 

[F-Dog]

If Kobe wants to build a championship team from scratch, the Clippers are the obvious place to start.

 

[Ryanwb]

If Kobe wants to build a championship team from scratch, the Clippers are the obvious place to start.

Or if he wanted to get REALLY technical....the Bobcats

 

[thirty-two]

It does seem weird that whether or not our offseason can be considered a success will be based on the decisions of 2 players.

If Francis doesn't like Orlando, we probably get TMac
If Kobe doesn't think he will ever get credit in LA, we probably get Kobe

2 things that the Suns really can't do anything about.

That's actually a really good point.

To the Suns credit, whether it's for real or not has yet to be seen, but I think they've done a good job to at least give themselves the opportunity to land either one of these players. Worst case scenario - we get neither - but I still don't think that qualifies this offseason as a total disaster. I'm with SirChaz in that respect, from a few of his posts.

True success, in my opinion, will be getting one of the two - but if it ends up as neither - I have to give the Suns credit for at least trying. Like Ash said, they can't do much more than see what Kobe or TMac say. I will be upset though, if we dont sign SOMEONE this summer, but I don't think that will be a big problem.

This has definitely been a crazy offseason...

sorry this post was a little off topic from the actual title of the thread..

 

[Goldfield]

Very interesting... Ever since the Lakers said they would trade Shaq, I have totally gave up the Idea of KOBE leaving.

Seems the odds of getting him are still not as high I we first thought, but still seem pretty good...

 

[George O'Brien]

Very interesting... Ever since the Lakers said they would trade Shaq, I have totally gave up the Idea of KOBE leaving.

Seems the odds of getting him are still not as high I we first thought, but still seem pretty good...

I'm sure the chances of Kobe coming to Phoenix are below 10%, but this is much much higher than I would have given two months ago.

In any case, they have the cap space. They have all but declared that Vujanic will stay in Europe for another year and drastically reduced their obligation for signing a draft pick. In any case Vroman doesn't count against the cap until he is signed.

It is at least POSSIBLE for the Suns to sign Kobe and Dice within the cap space available. It took a lot of work, but they did what they had to do to make an offer. I'm not sure what more Kobe fans could ask for.

That being said, I still see Kobe coming as a long shot. The Lakers are doing more than I would have though possible to keep him. I can't help but feel that this will be like when Kidd was visiting San Antonio. He had a good time, but still followed the money.

 

[coloradosun]

100M vs. 140M

If Shaq leaves LA, Kobe will be in the same position, building a championship team from scratch. I read somewhere that the Lakers could max him out at 140M, Phoenix's max is 100M or so. Come on, anybody who does not think that money talks is crazy. He would also be offered ownership at some point in time, the Lakers never made that offer to Shaq. Shaq has mentioned that he would like to eventually own the Orlando Magic, that is why he is keeping his ties to Orlando. If you are NBA Superstar, at some point in time there is talk of owning part or all of an NBA team, Magic, MJ, Barkley but those guys couldn't get the size of contracts that Shaq and Kobe can get. These two guys have to part ways at some time and carry on with their own goals. With Buss cozying up with Kobe, I think it is obvious what Bryant will do. Remember they have been very accomodating with Kobe legal proceedings and I think Kobe will take the additional 40M he can get from the Lakers to cover his legal costs.

Kobe coming to Phoenix is a pipe dream.

 

[slinslin]

If Shaq leaves LA, Kobe will be in the same position, building a championship team from scratch. I read somewhere that the Lakers could max him out at 140M, Phoenix's max is 100M or so.

Kobe coming to Phoenix is a pipe dream.

Stop telling everyone it is a pipe dream when you don't know the basic stuff.

The difference between the Lakers and Suns contract is that the Lakers can offer a 7 year deal and the Suns can only offer 6 years.

 

[coloradosun]

There is additional money as well as a longer contract. Look at the Antonio McDyess contract with the Nuggets.

On the Lakers board the word is that Kobe's wife has hired a divorce attorney, so some of the loot that Bryant has and will have will be going to her. She is waiting to after the trial and after he signs a max contract.

 

[slinslin]

If you added the one more year to the Suns contract since he should still be in his prime at that point.

The difference between the Lakers and Suns contract is only about 10M$ or so.

I really don't see money making a difference in this case.

If he has to split the money with his wife. The difference between the Lakers and Suns offer gets even smaller.

 

[coloradosun]

The additional year is worth 16M itself. At the minimum an additional 2M for 6 years is 12M, that comes to 28M. What would you do? And ownership, I don't see the new owners of the Suns putting that on the table for Kobe, he hasn't won any championships for them. Honestly, what would you do.

The Suns can't offer the additonal year, that's one of the benefits of Bird Rights.

Smaller offer means less take home, for him and her.

 

[Joe Mama]

I'm not sure what the last year and that deal is worth, but it's got to be around $25 million or so. It's just impossible to predict how much he will get any contract at that point, so arguing how much better Los Angeles can do is difficult. That said, if he can get companies to start endorsing him again after the rape trial he will be worth much more in endorsements in Los Angeles than here in Phoenix.

Joe Mama

 

[George O'Brien]

I'm not sure what the last year and that deal is worth, but it's got to be around $25 million or so. It's just impossible to predict how much he will get any contract at that point, so arguing how much better Los Angeles can do is difficult. That said, if he can get companies to start endorsing him again after the rape trial he will be worth much more in endorsements in Los Angeles than here in Phoenix.

Joe Mama

You mean Phoenix ISN'T a media capital?

 

[coloradosun]

Money,Money,Money,Money,Money--The Donald

I think money is a big issue, after you piss away a ton of money on lawyers in your defense and if you have to split it with your ex.