Gary Payton wants out of Lakers too: GP wants a contract buyout if the Lakers trade O’neal. Finally someone doing something smart! I don’t even know why GP resigned with the Lakers. He can get a better contract else where. There are other teams out there who are desperately looking for a good PG. Just look at S. Nash’s new contract. Gary is still the best defensive PG the NBA has and I expect him to get pick up fast if his buyout does go through.

Note: Just added Doc Rivers to my blog list because he agrees with me on GP.

I may be in the minority on this one, but I have no doubt that Gary Payton is still a fantastic player. It's a great example of a guy who's played a certain way his whole career and has had offenses designed to fit around him and then go to a different system that he's not the focal point, how difficult that adjustment is.

I hear people say Payton is done, he can't play any more. I'm in the minority, I disagree. I think Gary Payton, you put him on another team -- like the Pistons -- where the point guard handles the ball, he could play. But the focal points with the Lakers are in a different place and for Payton it's been very difficult and that's what you see.