Shaq says he turned down trade to Trail Blazers
Blazers deny it, but O'Neal said Portland tried to acquire him at midseason
 Lance Murphey / AP Shaquille O'Neal claims he turned down a possible trade to Portland. "Was I interested in going to Portland? I told him no, so he stopped that," O'Neal said. |
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Shaquille O'Neal said he vetoed a trade to the Portland Trail Blazers at midseason.
O'Neal, who last week was traded to Cleveland in exchange for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a second-round pick in next year's draft and $500,000, told SI.com that Suns general manager Steve Kerr asked him about going to the Blazers.
"During the middle of the season, Steve said Portland was interested," said O'Neal. "He said was I interested in going to Portland? I told him no, so he stopped that."
The Blazers denied that they tried to trade for O'Neal.
"Why would we when we've got Greg (Oden) developing and we've already got (Joel) Przybilla?" an unnamed Blazers official told the website. "If were in go-for-it mode, maybe we would be more interested."
O'Neal said Portland was offering the expiring contract of Raef LaFrentz in a package for him.
O'Neal said he asked Kerr to not deal him to Portland because the Blazers weren't close to winning a championship.
"They have a young team, and their team is pretty good the way it is," O'Neal said. "When he called me, he didn't mention (Cleveland). He said, 'Portland is really making the move for you.' And I said, `I don't really want to go to Portland."'
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