Absolutely.
Some people forget, Shaq wasn't just big. When he was young he was actually impressively athletic and ran the floor pretty [dang] well or a guy his size. He also had very good footwork and was a pretty competent passer. Not to mention his elite defensive ability and dominance on the boards.
I really hope that another dominant "shaq like" big comes along to change the league, because truth bet told I'm kinda tired of watching every game become a three point fest. I feel this is the most "cheap" basketball has ever been. So many teams lack simple fundamentals and there are too many players and teams out there that just force feed three point jumpers at their peril.
The modern rules have effectively enabled this, and it's taken a lot of fun and balance out of the game. Before if you wanted to win, you needed a balanced attack. You needed bigs who could control the paint, you needed a point guard who could create players, you needed a guy who could create shots, you needed a player or two who could hit the three.
Now you just stick 5 shooters on the floor and let them rain. I know a lot of people like it, but I just feel the entire game now feels like a group of kids playing NBA 2K19 - first ting they do is just chuck up threes with whoever has the ball.
He would without a doubt. The great 90s center who'd be less great in the modern game imo would be Olajuwon, whose iso game would be severely hampered with the abolition of the illegal defense rule. He would have to adapt by using his face up game a lot more, which is honestly inefficient when you compare it to the post game of Shaq (who'd power through double teams easily), the face up game of Robinson (he's the best shooter out of the four great 90s centers and had the speed of an SF as a 7'1 guy to drive inside and draw fouls) and Ewing (not to say Ewing would be better, but he was used in quite a modern way in New York in his prime as a guy to pass out to open shooters with his gravity inside than be an iso machine, imo he'd suffer less of a hit in the modern game).
I have to disagree with you there.
Hakeem may well be the single most skilled big man the NBA has ever seen. His agility, footwork, ball handling skills were among the best I've ever seen from a big man and he also had an elite set of post moves and a pretty impressive jumper. He had every offensive skill imaginable.
You look at today's NBA and watch how guys like Demarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid have dominated against match-ups. Hakeem was better then any of them. If Hakeem was in the NBA today he may well be the most dominant player in the league.