In 04, O'Neal was traded by the Lakers, what chips did the Heat give? How did they develop later?

There is no 24th in the rivers and lakes

2024-06-27 15:52Creators in the field of sports

In the 1996 offseason, the Lakers showed great sincerity in order to get O'Neal, and the team not only sent Jerry West, Magic Johnson and other celebrities to recruit him, but also offered O'Neal a very lucrative contract. On the other hand, on the Magic side, not only did they fail to keep O'Neal wholeheartedly, but the team published the topic of "Is O'Neal worthy of a contract of 100 million" in the local newspaper, and after seeing such an absurd operation of his old club, O'Neal finally chose to sign a 7-year 120 million long-term contract with the Lakers.

As a result, the Magic could only watch O'Neal lead the Lakers to three consecutive championships, during which O'Neal was the first person in the league, and his dominance in the game was rare in history. In the 2000 Finals, O'Neal averaged 38 points, 16.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1 steal and 2.7 blocks per game, 33 points, 15.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 3.4 blocks per game in the 2001 Finals, and 36.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.8 blocks per game in the 2002 Finals.

However, after three consecutive championships, the competitiveness of the Lakers has inevitably declined, and all dynasty teams in history have disbanded one day, and the Lakers are no exception. After losing to the Pistons in the 2004 Finals, due to the intensification of the conflict between the OK combination, the management had to choose between O'Neal and Kobe, and it was obvious that the young Kobe was more suitable to be the core of the team's future team, so they put the 32-year-old O'Neal on the shelf.

After O'Neal appeared on the trade market, it immediately attracted the attention of many teams, after all, "a skinny camel is bigger than a horse", even if O'Neal was no longer at his peak at that time, but from his performance in the 2004 Finals against the Pistons, he still averaged 26.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, and it can be seen that he still has oil.

In the end, the Lakers selected the Miami Heat in the East, who was willing to send Odom + Caron Butler + Grant for O'Neal, and then they could also send a first-round pick and a second-rounder. So let's review the development of the players involved in the deal after the Lakers and Heat reached a deal in 2004? O'Neill was a blessing in disguise.

1. O'Neill

In his first two seasons with the Heat, O'Neal still played at the best of his best, but at the time he was largely out of step with dominance. Luckily, O'Neal met Wade in the Heat, who made a name for himself early as a new generation of league superstars, and in the 2005-2006 season, as a third-year rookie, Wade averaged 27.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

In the playoffs, O'Neal and Wade teamed up to bring the Heat to the Finals, facing the Mavericks, although the Heat once fell behind the opponent 0-2, but under Wade's outburst, the Heat finally completed a big reversal. The signs of O'Neal's decline in that series are visible to the naked eye, and he averaged only 13.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in six games, but because of this deal, O'Neal won the championship first than the Lakers, which can be regarded as a "blessing in disguise" for him.

Since then, however, O'Neal has been plagued by injuries and his decline has been increasing at a faster pace, and finally in the 2007-2008 season, the Heat decided to send the 35-year-old away. At the end of his career, O'Neal played for the Suns, Cavaliers, and Celtics. In 2011, O'Neal was plagued by a serious Achilles tendon injury, and at the age of 38, he had no choice but to refuse to exercise the player option and officially announced his retirement.

2. Odom

As an important contributor to the Lakers' two consecutive championships, it was simply too important for the Lakers to get Odom in a trade from O'Neal in 2004. Odom's all-round style of play was very crucial in the Lakers' later system, when the Lakers asked him to play more bench games because he needed to lead by example to lead the second team. In the 2009 playoffs, Odom averaged 12.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 blocks per game, and in the 2010 playoffs, he averaged 9.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2 assists and 0.9 blocks per game.

In the 2010-2011 season, Odom averaged 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3 assists per game in the regular season, shooting 53% from the field, and finally won the only Sixth Man of the Year trophy in his career that year. However, after losing to the Mavericks in the 2011 playoffs, the Lakers were determined to make a change, and at that time, in order to get Paul, they took the initiative to put Odom in the trade chips, but in the end, not only did the deal not work, but Odom was also disheartened by the team, and he also voluntarily requested a trade and left Los Angeles.

After being traded to the Mavericks, Odom was completely lost, and during his time with the Mavericks, he averaged only 6.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game, so he was forced to leave after a short period of time. Odom later returned to the Clippers, but his performance here was also very mediocre, and he was eventually forced to play in Europe at one point. In 2014, Odom signed a two-year contract with the Knicks, but his attitude at that time did not look like a professional player at all, so he was cut by the Knicks after only three months, which became his last stop in the NBA.

3. Kaloon Butler

When he was traded in 2004, Butler had just finished an injury-plagued season as a second-year rookie, and he only played here for a short year when he joined the Lakers, but his average of 15.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game also showed that injuries did not cause his strength to decline. Later, with the Wizards, Butler became an absolute mainstay of the team, and he was selected as an All-Star in the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons.

In the 2009-2010 season, Butler was traded to the Mavericks, and in the 2010-2011 season, he played only 29 regular season games due to injury, but he also received a championship ring because of the Mavericks' championship. After leaving the Mavericks, Butler played for the Clippers, Bucks, Thunder, Pistons, and Kings, but at that time he was already reduced to an ordinary role player, and finally left the NBA completely at the age of 35.

4. Brian Grant

As a rookie in the class of 1994, Grant was already at the end of his career when he was traded in 2004, but he averaged 8.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in the 2003-2004 season with the Heat, and it seems that he still has gas. But after coming to the new club, Grant's form has dropped significantly due to trades and knee injuries, and he is only averaging 3.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in the new season.

In the 2005-2006 season, Grant spent some time with the Suns, but his form showed no signs of improving, and he finally decided it was time to retire, so he left the NBA at the age of 33.

5. Famal

In 2006, the Lakers drafted Farmar with the 26th pick in the first round they received from trading O'Neal, and later during the team's two-game winning streak, Farmar was the team's backup point guard, and he averaged 3.7 points and 1.7 assists per game in the 2009 playoffs.

After leaving the Lakers in 2010, Farmar played for five more teams, during which he also returned to the Lakers, because the Lakers were in a rebuilding period in the 2013-2014 season, so Farmar also got more opportunities than before, this year he averaged 10.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game with the Lakers, and shot 43.8% from three-point range, which is also considered one of the best seasons of his NBA career.

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