As we near the halfway point of the NBA season, its time to look back on the most controversial move of the offseason. This was the trade of Shaquille O'Neal to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant. At the time both teams were expecting to benefit from the trade. The Heat would get the most dominant player of our era, and the Lakers would get much needed depth and versatility. Unfortunately for L.A., this has been one of the most one-sided trades in recent memory. Shaq has absolutely dominated for the Heat, and he has combined with Dwyane Wade to form the best one-two punch in the NBA. Wade is the prototypical 21st century point-guard. He can shoot, penetrate, and doesn't have the ego to get in the way of an excellent all-around game. Shaq has once again made All-Stars of chronic underachievers. Damon Jones, Udonis Haslem and Eddie Jones have all seen their productivity explode due to the presence of O'Neal on the court. The Heat have definitely been the benefactors of this trade.
On the other hand, the Lakers have seen their hopes of championship contention fade like Milli Vanilli. The trade with the Heat, turned the Lakers into last year's Miami Heat team. The Lakers are now a team without inside presence and have turned into a jump-shooting team. Los Angeles now shoots more threes than almost any team in the NBA and have been inconsistent to say the least. This type of unpredictable play has been most evident with Lamar Odom. At times he looks like a superstar in the making and other times he seems to wallow in his immense talent. He looked his best when Kobe was out with his ankle sprain, but my guess is that he will return to his old self as Kobe has returned. Caron Butler has basically created a glut at the small forward position. His defense is suspect and he also played his best basketball when Bryant was injured. Brian Grant has about as much mobility as Kareem did in 1987(that's bad folks). His knees are just about completely shot after years of battling tendinitis. He does provide some veteran leadership to the younger players, but his production on the court is severely lacking.
