Shaq to Dallas? - Page 3 - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

DarenG · 05-09-2007, 09:51 AM

Shaq to Dallas will never happen. When Shaq signed that deal with Miami I am pretty sure it included a no trade clause. Shaq would have to waive that in his contract. So until Shaq expresses interest or comes out and says I want to leave Miami, it will never happen.

Not only that but why should Miami panic? DW was hurt and Shaq played well. If I am Miami I don't make this trade. Shaq with DW is still their best chance at another title.

Dr.Zoidberg · 05-09-2007, 04:42 PM

Posted on Wed, May. 09, 2007
There is still plenty to like about Shaq

By Greg Cote

There definitely are reasons the Miami Heat might actually consider trading Shaquille O'Neal. Yes, indeed. The three most likely that come to mind are sheer panic, gross overreaction and certifiable insanity.

No doubt a small subdivision of fans bereaved over the lack of a second consecutive NBA title and seeking a ready scapegoat find an easy target in the largest available one. It's true enough, too, that there are things Shaq no longer is at age 35.

He no longer is able to give you a full season of fat minutes, with 25 points and 15 boards a night. He no longer is able to bring to the court a game that is as consistently big as his still-awesome physical self.

Sometimes when lamenting all of the things Shaq isn't (perhaps while cringing to witness his line drive free-throw attempts ricochet off the rim), it has become far too easy to forget -- more to underappreciate -- what Mr. O'Neal still is:

One of his league's top three centers, even now.

A man who gives Miami a chance to be a champion every year.

A man still feared by opponents who wake up with bruises and welts just at the idea of facing him.

We might also mention the joy of having in our community a philanthropist of such wit and cartoon charm, literally a bigger-than-life personality who will keep this franchise a part of the national stage as long as he is front and center on it.
Oh, and ask for an acclimation from players made better by Shaq's presence. Then watch Dwyane Wade eagerly lead the chorus.

The idea of trading Shaq had been limited to blog and fan-forum chatter from the lunatic fringe in the knee-jerk wake of Miami's first-round sweep by Chicago -- until Monday, when it arose in a Chicago Tribune column by basketball writer Sam Smith, a notorious pretend general manager forever proposing possible trades just for fun. This one appeared under the headline, ``Shaq, anyone?''

Smith, based on the arguable premise that Miami needs a ''major overhaul,'' speculated Shaq was headed to Dallas in exchange for fading center/forward Erick Dampier, so-so guard Devin Harris, and a sign-and-trade with Jerry Stackhouse.

We charitably call the notion half-baked, if there were any indication the oven was even on. The writer himself admitted it was ``far-fetched.''

Trading Shaq is not impossible, no. Desperate, billionaire owners who believe they are a big man from a ring would line up. (Heck, all it would take is a one-man line.) And because O'Neal has neither a no-trade clause nor the right to pick his destination, retirement would be his only option to stop a trade.

As for possible Dallas interest, who knows what the Mavericks might be thinking as they come to understand The Incredible Shrinking Dirk Nowitzki seems to play smallest when games are biggest? Dirk might need help lifting that presumptive MVP trophy he did so little to earn when Dallas needed him most.

(Mavs owner Mark Cuban advocates performance-enhancing drugs in the current Men's Journal magazine, saying: ''If it's not bad for your health and it'll enhance your performance, why should you not be allowed to take it?'' Dirk could have used some against Golden State, Mark.)

From Miami's vantage, you wouldn't and shouldn't put Shaq, at 35, in the same untouchable category as Wade. You couldn't blame Pat Riley for listening if the phone rang. But anybody who knows Riley knows Miami would not even remotely consider trading O'Neal unless in return came a legitimate 15-point low-post presence to keep Miami from becoming just a perimeter team, in addition to something resembling a point guard answer.

Bear in mind Alonzo Mourning no longer can carry a starter's load at center for a full season. Besides, here's betting Zo would retire quickly if Shaq were traded to instantly make Miami less of a contender than it is with him.

Even unfounded, this smallest whiff of trade-Shaq speculation will turn out to have been a good thing if only it serves to shift South Florida's attention from the man's natural decline and sharpen the focus instead on the greatness still in him.

If only it makes us appreciate having him just a little bit more, and for as long as possible. The giant man will be gone soon enough. And it won't be until then that we realize the biggest void in sports is the space where Shaquille O'Neal used to be.

http://www.miamiherald.com/418/story/100802.html

V2M · 05-09-2007, 04:45 PM

Riley: 'We Are Not Trading Shaq'
9th May, 2007 - 5:06 pm
RealGM -
Pat Riley issued a statement on Wednesday in regards to the possibility of the Miami Heat trading center Shaquille O'Neal.

"Amongst growing speculation in the media, in reference to Shaq, I want to set the record straight and say that we are not trading Shaq."

globemaster · 05-09-2007, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dortmund

hell yeah. i think shaq for 20 million is worth it more than dampier for 10 million. what the hell are we paying someone 10 million for if they are not gonna appear in a elimination game??

Agreed. Can't we just release Damp and get that cap money back since we have no use for him? I'd rather just use Damp since he was a starter on a team that won 67 games, but since the coach has no use for him when it really matters then we might as well just get rid of him.

GO MAVS!!!

jthig32 · 05-09-2007, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by globemaster

Agreed. Can't we just release Damp and get that cap money back since we have no use for him? I'd rather just use Damp since he was a starter on a team that won 67 games, but since the coach has no use for him when it really matters then we might as well just get rid of him.

GO MAVS!!!

If releasing players released the team of the cap hit, don't you think teams would do it a LOT more often?

globemaster · 05-09-2007, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sike

Shaq would bring some balls and some attitude that IS needed...but I'd rather move JT than Harris....

Nobody's gonna want Terry. His contract is larger and he's also older. Harris is a piece that isn't working out and people would want him because he's young and cheap.

GO MAVS!!!

globemaster · 05-09-2007, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pickupyonuts

everyone is saying howard and harris are the future and stuff...but if im not mistakin, howard is only 1 year younger than dirk....maybe 2. sounds to me that just leaves harris for the future...and how good will he actually become?i honestly think i could go pick 10 players in the draft this year that would be better for us right now and in the future then harris will be.

... at least 10. This is a very deep draft and Harris has serious flaws in his game that simply aren't improving.

GO MAVS!!!

globemaster · 05-09-2007, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DevinFuture

I like it on paper, but I don't know what that would look like trying to play Dirk and KG at the same time. Are we playing them at SF and PF or PF and C? Or does that even matter? Can KG still guard 3s?
KG, Dirk, Damp/Diop would be a massive front court, but who would run the team from the guard spot? Barea?

Sign Morris Peterson for the Mid Level exception and start drafting point guards like crazy. One will pan out.

GO MAVS!!!

globemaster · 05-09-2007, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthig32

If releasing players released the team of the cap hit, don't you think teams would do it a LOT more often?

Good point. I wish we could though, since we have zero plans of using him during the actual games that count (playoff games).

GO MAVS!!!

bobatundi · 05-09-2007, 09:23 PM

we had zero plans of using him against golden state, i'll grant you that; however, if we had faced San Antonio and then maybe Detroit--as we should have based on our regular season--Dampier would have played a critical role.

TruthbHeard · 05-10-2007, 01:57 PM

hell no screw shaq, Id rather get a player with atleast 5 years left like Jermaine then Shaq, i dont want this team to win a championship then become a bottom feeder for the next 10 years, that trade indicates just that

pkdumas · 05-10-2007, 02:04 PM

I think Devin Harris keeps getting better every year. And he's delivering in the playoffs.

pkdumas · 05-10-2007, 02:07 PM

While I've been drooling over the idea of Chauncy Billups, the Warriors are really the only team that has exposed our guards. We can't even get a Chauncy, so I say we keep the extended core for at least one more year and make sure this past year wasn't a fluke. These guys have good chemistry, they just ran into the wrong team.