http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4285489

Deal awaiting league approval
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By Chris Broussard
ESPN The Magazine
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The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns have come to an agreement on a blockbuster trade that sends Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland to team with LeBron James, according to sources.

The deal has been agreed to in principle and is expected to be finalized Thursday, according to sources.

Cleveland will send Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic to Phoenix for the future Hall of Famer. Sources said the Suns will also receive the 46th pick in Thursday's NBA draft and $500,000.

The trade gives the Cavs a player they've coveted since February. With center Zydrunas Ilgauskas starting to break down, adding Shaq to the roster gives them a dominant force in the middle. The Cavs were obviously unhappy with their ability to defend Dwight Howard in the playoffs and bringing Shaq into the fold should help. O'Neal averaged 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game last season and made his 15th All-Star game.

The Cavaliers were also in talks with New Orleans about obtaining Tyson Chandler. If they had not made the trade for O'Neal, they would have traded for Chandler, according to a source.

The Cavs felt O'Neal was the better option because he has just one year left on his contract, and will not eat up cap space that will enable them to pursue free agents such as Chris Bosh in next summer's star-studded free agent class. Chandler, who has had injury problems the past two postseasons, has a player option for $12.7 million in 2010-2011 that he is likely to pick up.

The Cavaliers are not done making moves. They still want to re-sign power forward Anderson Varejao and they also would like to add a long, athletic wing player via free agency.

For the Suns, the O'Neal trade is a straight salary dump. Pavlovic's $5 million dollar contract next season is only partially guaranteed for the amount of $1.5 million. Factor in the disparities in the contracts between Wallace, Pavlovic and Shaq and the team will save $4.5 million next season. However, when you factor in the savings they'll reap on the luxury tax, it will be closer to $10 million in savings. That savings can be amplified if Wallace decides to retire and the Suns buy him out of his contract for less than the $14 million he's owed next season.

The trade is a pretty strong admission by the Suns that the trade of Shawn Marion for Shaq in February of 2008 was a mistake. Marion was a free agent this summer and, had they let him walk, their savings would've been $21 million -- not the $5.5 million they're saving in this deal.

When the Suns made the trade they had the best record in the Western Conference. This year they finished in the lottery. With Shaq gone, the question is ... are the Suns finally rebuilding?

Sources say that the team would still like to compete. They still have veterans Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Jason Richardson and Leandro Barbosa. They also have the 14th pick in the draft this year and second year player Robin Lopez.

Chris Broussard is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. NBA reporter Chad Ford contributed to this report.

Good deal for the Cavs in that they didn't really give up anything to get him and his deal is expiring after next season. So it cost very little and there is little risk. That said, I think they'll have chemistry problems. The Cavs have become a team that plays well at a faster pace and getting into transition. While there are obvious advantages having Shaq, he will also hinder their style of play like he did with Nash and Amare. Good deal on paper. Not necessarily a good deal on the court.

someone explain to me why we didnt get him?!!!

We didn't want him.

I'm sure the feeling would have been mutual if we tried...

"Hey Shaq, how would you like to play for Detroit?"

"Hey Shaq, how would you like to play with Lebron?"

We lose.

business people! how many times do i have to stress this! it doesnt matter where he wants to go. if you get traded you got traded

you know whats funny? i dont think this makes the cavs any better. might make them worse i wont say why cause then the secrets out that we'll all find out as the season progresses. or even better another playoff melt down

Might make their regular season worse.

I don't think they lose to Orlando with Shaq.

quote:

Originally posted by Voice of Reason:
business people! how many times do i have to stress this! it doesnt matter where he wants to go. if you get traded you got traded

Tell that to Antonio McDyess and the Denver Nuggets...

Shaq would have sat and we either buy him out or stubbornly force him to sit out the year. And for a guy who one day says he might retire, another day says he's rearing to go until he's 39 years old, I wouldn't feel like risking it.

Whatever Joe D. was thinking about a quick turn around and fielding a contender just got set back even further. Cavs + Shaq, Celtics, and Orlando, Wiz, all look to be well ahead of whatever the Pistons put together.

Getting Shaq for Wallace and Pavlovic makes them better offensively, it gives them a legitimate post threat to dump the ball down to and Shaq still draws double teams at times which should open the floor up more for their shooters. I don't think Shaq camping out in the lane will hurt LeBron's driving ability, for one LeBron is too good for that to happen and for two, when LeBron drives the lane and draws defenders he can just drop it off to Shaq for easy dunks.

But this definitely doesn't improve the Cavs defense what so ever, and actually makes it worse. Orlando destroyed Cleveland with the Pick and Roll and their P&R defense just got alot worse by adding Shaq. Shaq was never a great defender and he's not even solid defensively now. If you go back and look at the Suns defensive numbers before they acquired Shaq they were actually better across the board defensively and they were pretty awful before he got there.

I think if the Cavs make a couple other small moves to compliment this trade it could be a big positive however. They were contenders before this trade and they are contenders after it, but I don't think it makes them marketably better despite basically giving up nothing to get him.

It doesn't help their defense, but it doesn't hurt their defense all that much either. It's not like Zydrunas was a defensive stopper. Z had all those problems with pick-and-roll situations and getting beat by face-up big men. Even as fat and as old and as slow as Shaq is, he's still more mobile than Z. Shaq does help in defending a guy like Dwight Howard.

The Cavs will have to figure out other ways to improve their defense, like adding a more athletic, mobile power forward and getting a shooting guard with more size than West/Gibson.

But now they don't really have trade assets and they're way over the cap. They should look to go after a guy like Keith Bogans who has size on the wing and is a solid defender. And, maybe somehow work a trade for a player like Jared Jeffries, who has the size, mobility, and versatility to match up against players like Rashard Lewis, Kevin Garnett, and Lamar Odom.

quote:

Originally posted by Jelly:
But now they don't really have trade assets and they're way over the cap. They should look to go after a guy like Keith Bogans who has size on the wing and is a solid defender. And, maybe somehow work a trade for a player like Jared Jeffries, who has the size, mobility, and versatility to match up against players like Rashard Lewis, Kevin Garnett, and Lamar Odom.

I agree with this.
They should be able to get Jared Jeffries if they want him, the Knicks aren't too enamored and probably want his contract off the books.
Then they should try to get a bigger, athletic wing defender. Someone like an Anthony Parker, Rodney Carney, or Keith Bogans type.

I like the move for the Cavs. Shaq can take a lot of pressure off of Lebron. Lebron was being asked to do too much last season. He looked worn out by the end of the game. Shaq is a guy who can create offense. This should allow Lebron to rest more during the game.

The only thing I don't like about it is who do you put at PF to play along side of Shaq? They can't pair him with big Z because they would get run out of the gym. Pairing him with Varajao(SP?) would clog the paint and make it hard for Lebron to drive.

quote:

Originally posted by ego1970:
The only thing I don't like about it is who do you put at PF to play along side of Shaq? They can't pair him with big Z because they would get run out of the gym. Pairing him with Varajao(SP?) would clog the paint and make it hard for Lebron to drive.

It was rumored that they're trying to sign either Charlie Villanueva or Sheed.

Charlie Villanueva would be perfect for Cleveland. He would be a great compliment to Lebron and Lebron/Shaq would keep him focused.

The Shaq trade is a LOL to me. Talking about grabbing for straws…

quote:

Originally posted by caroledj:
The Shaq trade is a LOL to me. Talking about grabbing for straws…

not sure why you say that...shaq is still a dominant force and is easily one of the top 5 centers in the nba.

quote:

not sure why you say that...shaq is still a dominant force and is easily one of the top 5 centers in the nba.

Shaq is passed his prime, Danny Ferry hope this move alone would be enough for James to stay. The Cavs go from a team losing a game six in the Eastern finals to a team that's going to lose the seventh game in the Eastern finals. They got a heck a lot slower.

quote:

Originally posted by Fat Computer Nerd:

quote:

Originally posted by caroledj:
The Shaq trade is a LOL to me. Talking about grabbing for straws…

not sure why you say that...shaq is still a dominant force and is easily one of the top 5 centers in the nba.

Well technically speaking, yeah. Why? Because there aren't that many true Centers in this leauge anymore.