A lot of people are hating on Kobe Bryant for demanding a trade, because he pressured the Lakers to trade Shaquille O'Neal before he would resign, but is it his fault they got so little in return for him? Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and the horrible contract of Brian Grant in exchange for the dominant player in the NBA? Pat Riley admitted that he would have included Dwyane Wade if it was a deal breaker, but Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak didn't press the issue, possibly in order to get a deal done before free agency started. The Lakers of course traded Butler for Kwame Brown, since they had three players (Kobe, Odom, and Butler) to play two positions (small forward and shooting guard).
The Dallas Mavericks had been the front-runner to trade for Shaq, but the Lakers insisted on Dirk Nowitzki in return. Dallas reportedly was willing to part with All Stars Antawn Jamison and Josh Howard, but the Lakers preferred getting an inferior package to Shaq staying in the West. Or they could have not traded Shaq and dared Kobe to follow through on his threat to sign with the crosstown Clippers. Anything other than the course of action they followed would be better than what they're looking at: a nucleus of Odom, Brown, Andrew Bynum, and whatever they get for Kobe.
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