Yes, it's Chad Ford again. Nothing new here, but FYI.
http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=1877829&type=story
Will Peja, Baron and Shareef get their trades
Chad Ford, ESPN Insider, 9-9-04
The summer of 2004 will forever be remembered for a number of things. More than 100 players changed teams this offseason. In the process, NBA free agents garnered an unprecedented billion-plus dollars in contracts from owners who claim they have no money. Our U.S. Olympic team failed to get the gold for the first time since Team USA began using NBA players. Kobe Bryant <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3118>'s long legal saga finally came to end.
But for my money nothing will have a bigger impact on the 2004-05 season than the trade demands of two NBA superstars. When Tracy McGrady <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3179> told the Magic in June that he would opt out of his contract at the end of the season if the Magic didn't trade him and when Shaquille O'Neal <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=847> threatened after the Finals to bolt the Lakers at the end of the season if he wasn't moved … the wheels of change began turning.
This was the summer of the trade demand. NBA superstars fed up with losing, constant personnel changes, team chemistry problems or just looking for some more cash began screaming that they wouldn't take it anymore. NBA owners and GMs, frightened by the prospect of a growing P.R. disaster, capitulated.
Neither the Magic nor the Lakers got full value for their superstars. Teams rarely do when a superstar demands a trade.
The Magic traded away arguably the best wing in the NBA for a point guard coming off the worst season in his career, an undersized two guard who shot 42 percent from the field and an overpaid big guy who averaged a whopping six points and six rebounds a game.
The Lakers got back more, but was it enough? GM Mitch Kupchak shipped out the most dominant big man in the game by a mile and got back an aging center with bad knees, a budding, versatile wing and a second-year small forward coming off a disastrous injury-filled season. Lamar Odom <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3327> and Caron Butler <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3608> might both prove to be all-stars down the road, but will they ever equal Shaq?
T-Mac and Shaq's trade demands, coupled with their teams' willingness to accommodate them, opened the floodgates. Several other players, including Kenyon Martin <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3400> (in a sign-and-trade), Al Harrington <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3268>, Jason Terry <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3333> and Dikembe Mutombo <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=425>, have been granted their trade wishes.
A number of other top players throughout the league, including Peja Stojakovic <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3119>, Jason Kidd <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=2625>, Baron Davis <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3326>, Vince Carter <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3248>, Shareef Abdur-Rahim <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3098> and Gary Payton <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=259>, have also demanded, in one form or another, a trade this summer if their various requests were not met.
What gives? Agents are asking their players if they are happy where they're at for the next six or seven years. With a new collective bargaining agreement being negotiated, there's a good chance that the rules regarding unrestricted free agency and trades will become more restrictive. If player wants out of a situation, now is the time to make it happen. It might be much harder to change teams after next summer.
T-Mac and Shaq both understood this, which is partly why they wanted out now -- before their respective teams had a chance to prove to them that they could turn it around. The reasons vary for the rest of the group. Some want more playing time. Others don't like their teammates. A few more are concerned about the direction their team is heading.
With less than a month to go before training camps, will any of the players with outstanding trade demands get their wish? Insider breaks it down.
Peja Stojakovic, SF, Kings
What's the beef? Stojakovic <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3119> is still fuming over Chris Webber <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=1272>'s tirade after the Kings lost in the playoffs. For most of the season, Stojakovic was a legit MVP candidate as Webber sat on the bench nursing a sore knee. When CWebb returned, the Kings free-flowing offense ground to a halt, the chemistry the team had enjoyed all season disappeared and Stojakovic's numbers, especially in the playoffs, plummeted. Webber insinuated afterward that Stojakovic and Vlade Divac <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=84> weren't hard workers (a ludicrous claim coming from a guy who's constantly hurt). Within weeks the Kings decided not to re-sign Divac, Stojakovic's mentor, instead giving more money to Greg Ostertag <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3030>. From there, Stojakovic had enough and asked the Maloof brothers to trade him.
Will he be traded? It doesn't look like it. Stojakovic talked with the Maloof brothers by phone two weeks ago and they told him they had no intention of trading him. Stojakovic's agent, SFX's David Bauman, told Insider on Wednesday that Peja isn't going to force the matter. "He has two more years left on his contract and he's going to honor them," Bauman told Insider. "He still hopes that the Kings will listen to him and grant his wish, but he understands this is a business. Sometimes players and teams just need a change. Peja loves the Kings and wouldn't mind finishing his career there if other changes were made." While Bauman wouldn't get into it, it's clear that those "other changes" mean the Kings dumping CWebb -- something that's almost impossible given the four years, $78 million still left on Webber's contract. A number of teams, including the Pacers and Suns, have made pitches for Stojakovic but the Kings aren't budging. Stojakovic is one of the great bargains in the NBA and the team's best shooter. If team chemistry continues to disintegrate during the season, then the Kings might look more seriously at a trade, but right now they feel like this issue can be worked out.
The rest deals with other players and is too long to post
http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=1877829&type=story
Will Peja, Baron and Shareef get their trades
Chad Ford, ESPN Insider, 9-9-04
The summer of 2004 will forever be remembered for a number of things. More than 100 players changed teams this offseason. In the process, NBA free agents garnered an unprecedented billion-plus dollars in contracts from owners who claim they have no money. Our U.S. Olympic team failed to get the gold for the first time since Team USA began using NBA players. Kobe Bryant <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3118>'s long legal saga finally came to end.
But for my money nothing will have a bigger impact on the 2004-05 season than the trade demands of two NBA superstars. When Tracy McGrady <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3179> told the Magic in June that he would opt out of his contract at the end of the season if the Magic didn't trade him and when Shaquille O'Neal <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=847> threatened after the Finals to bolt the Lakers at the end of the season if he wasn't moved … the wheels of change began turning.
This was the summer of the trade demand. NBA superstars fed up with losing, constant personnel changes, team chemistry problems or just looking for some more cash began screaming that they wouldn't take it anymore. NBA owners and GMs, frightened by the prospect of a growing P.R. disaster, capitulated.
Neither the Magic nor the Lakers got full value for their superstars. Teams rarely do when a superstar demands a trade.
The Magic traded away arguably the best wing in the NBA for a point guard coming off the worst season in his career, an undersized two guard who shot 42 percent from the field and an overpaid big guy who averaged a whopping six points and six rebounds a game.
The Lakers got back more, but was it enough? GM Mitch Kupchak shipped out the most dominant big man in the game by a mile and got back an aging center with bad knees, a budding, versatile wing and a second-year small forward coming off a disastrous injury-filled season. Lamar Odom <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3327> and Caron Butler <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3608> might both prove to be all-stars down the road, but will they ever equal Shaq?
T-Mac and Shaq's trade demands, coupled with their teams' willingness to accommodate them, opened the floodgates. Several other players, including Kenyon Martin <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3400> (in a sign-and-trade), Al Harrington <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3268>, Jason Terry <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3333> and Dikembe Mutombo <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=425>, have been granted their trade wishes.
A number of other top players throughout the league, including Peja Stojakovic <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3119>, Jason Kidd <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=2625>, Baron Davis <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3326>, Vince Carter <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3248>, Shareef Abdur-Rahim <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3098> and Gary Payton <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=259>, have also demanded, in one form or another, a trade this summer if their various requests were not met.
What gives? Agents are asking their players if they are happy where they're at for the next six or seven years. With a new collective bargaining agreement being negotiated, there's a good chance that the rules regarding unrestricted free agency and trades will become more restrictive. If player wants out of a situation, now is the time to make it happen. It might be much harder to change teams after next summer.
T-Mac and Shaq both understood this, which is partly why they wanted out now -- before their respective teams had a chance to prove to them that they could turn it around. The reasons vary for the rest of the group. Some want more playing time. Others don't like their teammates. A few more are concerned about the direction their team is heading.
With less than a month to go before training camps, will any of the players with outstanding trade demands get their wish? Insider breaks it down.
Peja Stojakovic, SF, Kings
What's the beef? Stojakovic <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3119> is still fuming over Chris Webber <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=1272>'s tirade after the Kings lost in the playoffs. For most of the season, Stojakovic was a legit MVP candidate as Webber sat on the bench nursing a sore knee. When CWebb returned, the Kings free-flowing offense ground to a halt, the chemistry the team had enjoyed all season disappeared and Stojakovic's numbers, especially in the playoffs, plummeted. Webber insinuated afterward that Stojakovic and Vlade Divac <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=84> weren't hard workers (a ludicrous claim coming from a guy who's constantly hurt). Within weeks the Kings decided not to re-sign Divac, Stojakovic's mentor, instead giving more money to Greg Ostertag <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3030>. From there, Stojakovic had enough and asked the Maloof brothers to trade him.
Will he be traded? It doesn't look like it. Stojakovic talked with the Maloof brothers by phone two weeks ago and they told him they had no intention of trading him. Stojakovic's agent, SFX's David Bauman, told Insider on Wednesday that Peja isn't going to force the matter. "He has two more years left on his contract and he's going to honor them," Bauman told Insider. "He still hopes that the Kings will listen to him and grant his wish, but he understands this is a business. Sometimes players and teams just need a change. Peja loves the Kings and wouldn't mind finishing his career there if other changes were made." While Bauman wouldn't get into it, it's clear that those "other changes" mean the Kings dumping CWebb -- something that's almost impossible given the four years, $78 million still left on Webber's contract. A number of teams, including the Pacers and Suns, have made pitches for Stojakovic but the Kings aren't budging. Stojakovic is one of the great bargains in the NBA and the team's best shooter. If team chemistry continues to disintegrate during the season, then the Kings might look more seriously at a trade, but right now they feel like this issue can be worked out.
The rest deals with other players and is too long to post