Chapter 705: The Shark

Now or the future.

O'Neal or Kobe?

The Lakers wanted both, but if they could only choose one, it had to be the future—it had to be Kobe.

O'Neal might still be one of the league's most dominant centers next season.

He might even maintain a high enough level of dominance for the next 2–3 seasons.

But that would be all.

Kobe will likely have extreme dominance for at least the next 10 years, and his ceiling is immeasurable.

The future era will certainly have a place for Kobe.

Just as Kobe said, in the future, even alone, he will be able to lead a team to a championship.

The Lakers' management believes this, too.

The reason they were hesitant all along... that naturally comes from the management's perspective.

If the "OK Duo" remained, the hope for a championship would certainly be great, perhaps even for the next season, and every season thereafter.

But there is no way now.

Then it must be a choice for the future, for Kobe.

With Kobe pressuring the Lakers' management several times, it was confirmed that Kobe would stay, and "The Big Shark" O'Neal was officially placed on the trading block.

And almost the moment O'Neal was placed on the block: the entire league went into a frenzy.

To be precise.

Every team had prepared their chips in advance, just waiting for the Lakers to give the word, waiting to start competing.

After all.

Theoretically, the "OK Duo" were all untouchable.

It was just that the Lakers couldn't have both at this moment.

So whether it was trading O'Neal or trading Kobe, both would be targets for a scramble.

Now it is confirmed that O'Neal was the league's strongest center last season, bar none.

If the Lakers don't want him, other teams don't want him either?!

No.

Not only do they want him, they are scrambling for him, and all the Lakers have to do is slowly screen them and pick their most ideal chips.

After some screening.

The West prioritized confirming the chips from three teams: the Mavericks, the Timberwolves, and the Grizzlies.

The chips offered by the Mavericks were: except for the untouchable "German Tank" Nowitzki, anyone could be traded, pick whoever you want.

It was an all-in offer for the whole team.

Such temptation was indeed quite high, and the sincerity was full.

And if the Mavericks could get the combination of Nowitzki + O'Neal, they would definitely not lose out.

As long as these two are on the court.

Any team facing these two poisons would have to make a choice, and they wouldn't be able to make one.

Because whoever it is, they are extremely difficult to deal with, and the power of those two combined would be at a terrifying level.

However.

The Lakers seemed uninterested in any Mavericks players other than Nowitzki.

They only wanted Nowitzki.

Naturally, the Mavericks were unwilling.

That would be equivalent to swapping Nowitzki and O'Neal; although they could barely accept it, it certainly wasn't the Mavericks' original intention.

The two teams could only remain in a stalemate.

And the final trade could only end up as nothing.

Another Western team was the Timberwolves.

Like the Mavericks, except for the untouchable "Wolf King" Garnett, any other player could be picked.

You have to know the Timberwolves had a three-headed monster.

Besides Garnett, there were "The Alien" Cassell and "The Madman" Sprewell.

Additionally, Szczerbiak's ability was also quite good.

If all these players were given to the Lakers, paired with the absolute core Kobe, the Lakers' strength would also not be underestimated.

Next season would certainly also be in the championship ranks.

But.

Cassell was getting older, and Szczerbiak's body was not very good, always prone to injury, not stable enough at all.

As for the Madman.

Having been suspended for an entire season, what level he could play at next season was uncertain.

Furthermore.

With his violent personality, who knows what kind of trouble he might cause at the Lakers, potentially even bringing side effects to the Lakers.

The hidden dangers were too great.

In this way... after some deliberation, the Lakers' management also rejected the Timberwolves' offer.

Finally, there was the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies were smart; they knew that if the Lakers sent O'Neal away, they would be sending away a powerful center.

So.

They chose to give you a center with pretty good strength directly.

They included Pau Gasol in the offer.

Last season, Pau Gasol averaged: 18.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks; with a little growth, he would be at an All-Star level.

Not bad at all.

On this basis, they were also willing to give shooter Mike Miller and the passing master "White Chocolate" Jason Williams.

Additionally.

On this basis, there was also a first-round pick.

What kind of concept was this offer?

This directly strengthened the Lakers' point guard, strengthened the outside three-point shooting, and the inside Pau Gasol was also a near-All-Star player, also not bad.

Paired with Kobe.

The Lakers' overall strength and compatibility next season would be even higher than last season.

They might be able to play better coordination.

This was truly full of temptation.

But in the end, the Lakers still didn't agree.

Why?

Because the Lakers felt... keeping O'Neal in the West would only add a powerful enemy.

This would be one of the stumbling blocks on the Lakers' road to a championship.

This was not good.

So they refused.

The reason sounded okay.

But... in reality, after the Grizzlies sent out so many chips, their own team had no combat power left.

Even with O'Neal, they couldn't have a very high ceiling in the next few years.

For O'Neal alone, wanting to win a championship, the difficulty was still not small.

Second, in fact.

No matter which team you put O'Neal on, it would make that team's strength soar.

So actually, there was no need to worry too much about whether to put O'Neal in the near West or the farther East.

But this time, the Lakers just didn't want to let O'Neal stay in the West, and that was the reason they used to reject the Grizzlies' chips. ===== CHAPTER 707 =====