[ABM]

From: Mike Kahn - CBS Sportsline

Different day, same scenarios.....

....The feeling around the (Laker) organization is swelling, again, that (Shaquille) O'Neal is more and more about his own agenda -- just as he delayed foot surgery in the summer of 2002, setting the team back the entire '02-03 season. It's particularly infuriating to Gary Payton, who is astonished that O'Neal has already missed nearly one-third of their games and leaving Payton as the lone leader on the court -- especially since O'Neal talked him into signing as a free agent with the Lakers. "Gary can't believe it," a source close to Payton told SportsLine.com. "Shaq talked him into signing with the Lakers this summer to win and now he's decided not to play until he wants to. He should have been back two games ago and everybody knows it. This is not a good thing."

 

[Ed O]

Gary probably would have had a disagreement with Mo and been traded by now

Ed O.

 

[dkap]

Benched first, then traded.

Dan

 

[ABM]

Lame, guys. (despite the smileys.. )

 

[HOWIE]

I will always wonder if Rasheed would have played better with Payton. It would have been fun to watch, even Ed O has to admit, but somethings are just not meant to be. Kind of like Arvydas Sabonis playing in Portland with Dexler, Kersey, Williams, and Porter. :sigh:

 

[blazerfan4life]

If GP was playing here..i bet we would have won more games then we have now....:sigh:

 

[ebott]

I'm fairly certain that had Bob Whitsitt stayed on as our GM for this year we would have had a starting line up of c- Brad Miller, pf- Zach Randolph, sf- Rasheed Wallace, sg- Bonzi Wells, pg- Gary Payton. Heck, maybe we would have even let Mo go to Philly and gotten a coach that could do something with those guys. Bye-gones.

 

[goldfinger2020]

we would have had a starting line up of c- Brad Miller

What was it going to take to get Brad Miller anyways?

Gary probably would have had a disagreement with Mo and been traded by now

:laugh: :uhoh:

If GP was playing here..i bet we would have won more games then we have now

Yes we probably would have, but we still wouldn't be title contenders. I've become almost numb to the Blazers losing. How many pivitol games have we won this year? Against Sac twice & the Lakers. After we won those games we were all saying, "Is this where we turn the corner & start a nice winning streak?" when we all really know the answer. Losing to Golden State was embarassing, but the mood DD brought to the locker room didn't help much. I believe DD has a lot of infuence over Sheed & it kind of carries over to the rest of the team.

I keep telling myself that when we lose, it's just a better chance at landing a solid pick in the draft. That way it's a win/win.
If only we could play Dallas, Sac, & an injuried plauged Lakers team every night, we'd atleast be at .500.

 

[Masbee]

Originally posted by <b>goldfinger2020</b>!

What was it going to take to get Brad Miller anyways?

:laugh: :uhoh:

Less than you probably think. Indiana did a sign and trade with Sacramento because they couldn't afford to resign O'Neal and Miller both to big deals. They got back Scott Pollard.

Portland could have offered Dale Davis, a familiar face to Indy fans, and a player who (during this summer anyway) was considered better than Pollard. Portland could have thrown in Qyntel Woods if Indy needed more.

As far as Gary Payton, the deal that was worked out with Milwaukee required a sign-and-trade where the key value to Milwuakee was Sabonis (and his ending deal coming off the books). But I don't remember who else was going to Milwaukee. Was is Bonzi? Maybe. Could have been McInnis or Woods or others. If it was Bonzi, just swap DA for him in that fantasy lineup.