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LA Long Term Plan Out the Window

Watching the Miami Heat getting creamed by the Dallas Mavericks on Friday made me wonder about the decision LA made not to keep Shaq. There is no arguing that he is still the most dominant force in the game. However, Shaq has grown older. This is not the same Shaq from 2-3 years ago. The Heat are paying Shaq roughly $30 million a year, which eats up more of half of the salary cap.

This was one of the leading consideration why LA chose not to keep Shaq. Oh?yes, there was also the pesky Kobe-Shaq feud, but we won?t go into that. The plan from the moment Shaquille O`Neal was traded to the Miami Heat was to attain cap room in 2007 to pursue a top free agent. Unfortunately for the Lakers, names like Yao Ming and Amare Stoudemire inked long term extensions with their existing teams. The hope of acquiring LeBron James may be nothing more than a fantasy.

Still, all of the team`s moves over the last year or so have seemingly been geared towards maintaining their cap flexibility in 2007. This summer, the Lakers traded Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins to the Washington Wizards for Kwame Brown. The deal was a sign and trade which had Brown`s contract guaranteed for two seasons. The third season was originally $9.075 million in non-guaranteed money at the Lakers` discretion, thus fitting into the 2007 plan.