We are just about 26 hours away from the Christmas Day rematch and I can only think of one way to make this game better......
The Los Angeles Lakers lost their starting center, Andrew Bynum, Saturday to a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee which will keep him out 8-12 weeks. Obviously this will hurt the Lakers front line but I have a solution. I don't know if Steve Kerr or Mitch Kupchack can swing this deal before tomorrow night, but I know of one person who wants this to happen.
Honestly, I was convinced that he hated Jerry Buss, Phil Jackson, Kupchack and of course Kobe Bryant and would never want to return, but today a report on NBC Sports surfaced stating Shaquille O'Neal wants to return. I've done my due diligence and I can make this trade work. Who doesn't want to see "The Diesel" along side Kobe and Phil entering the Garden for 7 game series for the NBA Finals. If we thought last year was big, having the most charismatic NBA player of this generation in the equation makes the rivalry off the charts.
So Mitch and Steve, this is all you have to do to make this happen. Send Shaq and his $21M (for the next two years) in exchange for Lamar Odom, Chris Mihm, DJ Mbenga and cash. This deal works.....LA gets Shaq back, while Phoenix clears up $14M in cap space for next year, putting themselves under the luxury tax and flexibility to rebuild from their aging club.
So join the club, help me make this happen. Shaq back with the Lakers will indeed be SHAQTASTIC!!!!!
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See now I think that makes sense for LA (except Kobe, who would loathe the idea), but I don't think that helps the suns one iota. Oh hey look, another guy that's like the Matrix, but plays even less d, and sulks more!
ReplyDeleteThe reason why this works for Phoenix is because after Odom comes off the books this summer, their total salary would be in the $42M range (which puts them under the cap) going into next season. The cap for this season is a little under $59M, I imagine it will fall right around that next summer given the economy. And if Kerr really wants to go bold, he can not pick up the option on Nash ($13M) and be about $30M under the cap going into the summer. Then they can build their team around J-Rich and Amare (Bibby & Felton are a couple of the PG's available this summer). It will allow them to get younger and if they save some of that money for the summer of 2010, they might even be able to pick up one of those stud free agents (LeBron, Wade, Bosh, etc). Amare can opt out of his contract the summer of 2010, but if you show him you're building around him, he's more likely to stay.
ReplyDeleteYou're assuming two things here:
ReplyDelete1) The Suns management is ok with building for the future, rather than winning now. I don't think that's the case, I think kerr believes he has a legit chance to win the title with shaq in the next two years, which is why he made the push for him. In that since the trade for the suns makes no sense.
2) the 2010 guys are all actually going elsewhere. I honestly don't think that's the case for any of them. Plus if phx guts the team, how would that improve any of the Big 3s situation over what they're in now
while taking shaqs contract off the books puts them under the luxury tax threshold, I don't think it's a move they're looking to make. I think they're ok with paying extra (they've swapped draft picks for cash recently) because they think they have a chance to win the west, and the nba title
Good points, but I think it's pretty clear that the Suns are not a viable candidate to win the west. Nash is not quick enough to stay with the likes of Paul, Parker or Williams, and without D'Antoni this team seems to lack an identity. It was originally build for an up and down style, now Porter has them slowing the game down, the surrounding parts don't fit as well. It's time to blow it up and revamp.
ReplyDeleteAs for the summer of 2010, I think a lot of it will hinge on where Bron Bron goes. If he indeed jumps to the big apple (or Brooklyn), Cleveland will have to fill his spot someone someone, thus causing a domino effect. The key is if Bron goes to a team with enough cap space that he can entice the likes of Bosh, then no telling where things end up. The one thing that Cleveland, or any other team that has a free agent in 2010, has in its favor is that it can offer that 6th year on max contracts.
Point is that Phoenix has already peaked and needs to retool around the young talent that currently have.