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waterfield
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As far as trading off the stars now to get some capital that was always the method of Dr. Buss of the Lakers and he was right. Sacrifice the last year or so of a great player to get several years of good players. I.E. Shaq.
Although Dr. Buss was right to trade Shaq, we disagree on why he decided to do so. If you will recall, Kobe Bryant had demonstrated by that time that he was a bonafide superstar in his own right. And because he (Kobe) had the leverage of being a FA (and didn't particularly care for Shaq's lack of work ethic as it related to off-season conditioning) he gave Buss the ultimatum of "him or me."
Buss (rightfully) chose the younger of the two stars.
Connecting how the trading of Shaq relates to the Rams, though...
Do you recall who the Lakers received as part of that trade that sent Shaq to the Heat? They got Brian Grant, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, a 1st round pick,
and 5 years in purgatory.How did they get out of purgatory? Well, since the players they got in return obviously didn't make the Lakers competitive, they were forced to trade for another superstar (Pau Gasol).
The point I'd make is that we still have a window with great players who still have fuel in the tank. The organization should be wise and milk this as any picks for said great players aren't guaranteed to deliver - especially with our draft history.