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Okay so with the Lakers on the roll that they're currently on as of late, the question came to mind, has the Shaq trade since worked out better than anyone expected, and if it did is having these 3 players better than having Shaq in his prime? It's too early to say but judging on Shaq's first year with the Lakers and the first year of Gasol + Odom & Farmar which has gone better for the Lakers?

I personally believe the impact of Gasol, Odom and Farmar was greater than the Shaq impact in the early stages. I know there are more factors such as Kobe's level of play and such but seeing this team go from 7th to 1st seed this season made me believe that having Gasol, Odom, Farmar is a greater impact. The Lakers were a 4-5 seed before aquiring Oneitl, and the following first years atter we improved to a 2-3 seed, not making it pass Jazz to the finals. It wasnt until about 3 years later that we won the chip. Again I understand Kobe wasn't the Kobe he is now but we still had a talented core to go along with Shaq.

What do you guys think?

easy choice

Stupid thread.

Chuky Atkins and Kwame Brown !

CITYOFANGELSX3 wrote:Stupid thread.

Well I brought this up due to the fact that I came across a lot of people who actually think Gasol and Lamar will never fill in the shoes of Shaq. I didn't agree with them of course seeing from what they have done so far. I thought its interesting, I mean considering that we traded a Hall of Fame center and we were able to get back Gasol, Lamar, and Farmar in return. I just didn't think it would be such a one sided debate

shaq in his prime=3 championships

gasol+odom=0

what are you trying to accomplish here?

BobbySura wrote:shaq in his prime=3 championships

gasol+odom=0

what are you trying to accomplish here?

I think he is referring to the Shaq since he was traded if the Lakers would have been better off with him instead of having Gasol and Odom and Farmar.

Is this a trick question?

BobbySura wrote:shaq in his prime=3 championships

gasol+odom=0

what are you trying to accomplish here?

shaq = 8 years with lakers

gasol AND odom together = first year.


you cant base this on championships

Scandalouzzzz wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
you cant base this on championships

Unfortunately, you have to since that is the marker of great players and great franchises. Would Jordan, Magic, and Bird be considered great without those championships?

Fortunately, I think we'll have a couple years (of championships ) to find out. I think it was a good business move since Shaq was on the decline and started to call out the FO and owner.

djericho wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Unfortunately, you have to since that is the marker of great players and great franchises. Would Jordan, Magic, and Bird be considered great without those championships?

Fortunately, I think we'll have a couple years (of championships ) to find out. I think it was a good business move since Shaq was on the decline and started to call out the FO and owner.

i agree with you 100%, but what im saying is, if you're comparing shaq with odom and gasol, you cant use the fact that shaq won 3 championships as evidence. this is their first year playin together, and we just swept the nuggets, a 50 win team. im sure if odom, gasol and kobe started playin together 5 years ago, we would have at least one championship.

We all talked about this and I think we can all agree the Shaq trade was the best thing that ever happened to us.

Did the trade work out? Absolutely. We got rid of an aging malcontent and brought in the founandation for a perennial contender.

Would I take prime Shaq over Gasol, Odom and Farmar? In a freaking heartbeat.

You're talking about one of the top 10 players of all time, arguably the most physically dominant force in league history, and comparing them to three guys with one combined All-Star appearance.

I love all three and what they bring to our team. I look forward to watching them ball together for years to come. Hopefully, they'll help us win a few more championships.

But in no way, shape or form can they match the impact of a prime, healthy and motivated Shaquille O'Neal.

Sedale Threatt wrote:But in no way, shape or form can they match the impact of a prime, healthy and motivated Shaquille O'Neal.

+1, and I'm a BIG critic of Shaq... when motivated and healthy (and in his prime) he was/is unstoppable. Now if this was a question of Shaq vs. Kobe....

lol, been there done that.

I look forward to seeing this group go to war every season

I know it has been said before but just wanna add a little more to it. Because of ONeal's departure, we did very poorly that season without SHAQ and landed outselves Andrew Bynum with the 10th overall pick in the 04-05 draft. In the trade we recieved Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and a 1st Rd draft pick who turned out to be Jordan Farmar. We shipped out Caron for Kwame Brown, not counting Atkins and and the other Wizard's player. Kwame continued to be a bust and so LA shipped him to Memphis for Pau Gasol. With Shaq leaving LA, he thought he had killed us for years to come... but in a span of 3 hard years... the Lakers got Gasol, Odom, Farmar because of Oneal and draft picks like Ronny and Sasha have turned out to be very good role players for us. So thank you Shaq and when you retire in a couple of years, your more than welcome to come back to Staples Center... get a coutside seat and see what is put together (#1 team in the West) because of you.