Payton was looking a little slow in the first round series this year... on both sides of the floor. I think he's living off of his reputation of '96 still... kind of like Pippen. If the Lakers saved him for the playoffs then he'd be a great asset though. But the league is Shaq's for the taking if he cares again... that's the truth.
He's wirey, complains a lot, is underskilled for a SF, and is definitely not an all star in the western conference. I see a Juwan reincarnation... had one or two good years and negotiates big contracts based on those stats for the rest of his career. Wasn't Jermaine on the US team that sucked!!! He looked like he was playing in the Spanish Matador Champions league.
I read an interesting story today that suggested the Spurs may just stand pat and not do anything. Then the next year they can make a big push for Kevin Garnet. I think signing Jermaine sounds good, but the twin towers concept has failed more times than it has succeeded. David Robinson was an extraordinary player who basically sacrificed his role for the team. Not too many guys would do that, and of course he did it after being a totally dominant scorer for several years. It was easy to overlook him in the finals, but he came up huge at crucial times with blocks, rebounds and dunks.
Both Payton and Pippen realize that they don't have a chance with the current casts that they are with. There is not enough of a work ethic on either squad to get them through a playoff finals. Move either to a playoff contender like SA, or even to Dallas, and you get a different player for the year or so that they have left in them. Shaq is at the age where the body is going to start to tell on him over a long season. You can't keep banging and not have the results start to show up in your banger. I doubt he will have a healthy full year for the rest of his career. Not a stretch prediction since he hasn't had a healthy year in a long time anyway. A bum wheel will end his effective mobility and there goes his game. As most players age, they develop the true skill set that gives them that last four or five years in the career. Hope that he (Shaq) develops a jump hook or a fade away to match his career this year. Watch, next year the numbers will start to show the slide. Father time is a cruel master.