AJC: Atlanta Hawks: Shaq’s options come into focus

[Hawksquawk]

Would Shaq chase another one of these with the Hawks?

Chris Tomasson of FanHouse reports that Shaq’s first choice is to play for the Spurs and he wants a two-year deal. Shaq would take the mid-level to play in San Antonio but his “preference” if he joins the Hawks would be to play for more, according to Tomasson.

Sounds like Shaq might be trying to drive up the price for his services. If the Hawks wanted to give him more than the mid-level, they’d have to work out a sign-and-trade with the Cavs. I’m not going to speculate on those scenarios because I don’t know that the Hawks are willing to pay Shaq above the mid-level (or if they even plan to make an offer at this point) and don’t see any deal that would make sense for the Cavs.

I talked with another hack the other day and, just for fun, we tried to identify a list of teams that fits Shaq’s criteria:

1. Spurs: Shaq likes Gregg Popovich and the feeling is mutual. Shaq has ties to the area where he attended high school. The …

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[Unforgiven]

i see the spurs signing brad miller.

[HawkWeisErrr]

Shaq would love to play with Joe Johnson so I expect him to sign with Atlanta any day now.

[coachx]

I found this tidbit interesting from the article:

Boston might have been a possibility for Shaq but it looks like Jermaine O’Neal is headed there (Atlanta also has discussed signing J.O.).

[HawkFoLife]

Take Boston out of the picture with the Other O'Neal signing and mark Dallas off cause they re-signed Haywood. So it does look like it is between us and the Spurs.

[Robdawg]

Shaq knows if he signs with the Hawks then he would get more playing time, have a grater role, and now with the "superteam" in Miami, get some good old payback on LeBron and Wade. Why not come here?

[PaceRam]

Well, I just read that Shaq wants to play for the Heat and he would play for less money to play for them. Things just keep getting better for the Heat and worse for the rest of the NBA!