June 25, 2009 12:50 am | 195 Comments
Shaq To Cleveland? Done
Here comes The Big Cav…
Not so fast, LeBron. Danny Ferry just got you a big man.
With one year and ticking until Mr. James reaches free agency, the Cavs have made their boldest attempt yet to vault into the upper echelon. The Cleveland Plain-Dealer is reporting that the Cavs have agreed to trade Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic to Phoenix for the Big Cactus, the MDE, the Diesel, the Daddy: Shaquille O’Neal.
No, seriously, that’s all they had to give up, just Pavlovic and Wallace. (UPDATE: And the 46th pick and $500,000.) Of course this means Cleveland’s going to be on the hook for giving Shaq $20 million next year.
But heck, it’s Shaq.
A Kobe/Shaq Finals in 2010, anyone?
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1) Good for PHX. They get a reasonably athletic player in Wallace at the 4/5 and another outside shooter in Pavlovic.
2) They get quicker at the 4/5 spots overall with Amare playing centre again.
3) This could seriously blow up in the face of the Cavs ( I think neaorins statement above me is certainly a possibility).
4) This means the Cavs will be looking to deal off Z in the Draft, and pick up a shooter/athletic wing player or athletic big in his place. (Varejao will back up Shaq AND play 4 I think. JJ Hickson might get some burn too).
5) It is probably worth the risk for Cleveland. It’s a 50/50 as to whether Shaq will be rested and healthy for pre-season (and FIT) or just a mess after not having the playoffs this year.
1)Lives in the year 1999 when Ben Wallace was a reasonably athletic player.
2)Amare has made it pretty clear he doesn’t like playing center.
3)I agree with Hursty on his #3 point, but for different reasons.
4)Big Z and the Big Mercenary have sore knees, sore feet, sore ankles. They complement each other well, and if Cleveland trades Big Z they are stupid, stupid, stupid.
5)Is getting Shaq for one year really creating a team that can compete in the long run, or just trying to buy Lebron off with one (maybe) championship run and then going back to rebuilding mode? The answer is yes.
Anybody think this will affect Grant Hill’s decision to stay in PHX?.. and before all you wise-guys post “who cares?”, well, i do…
Kob=3 Rings
Wade=Ring
Amare+Nash=*meh*
LeBron=?
And i also cant wait till the blame-game starts…lebron is one of few players shaq hasent criticized jet!!!
and then theres coach brown, who maybe alredy has writen a letter to mr. stern, to resere an allstar spot for shaq…and then of course all the ridicolous twitter-updates, the t-shirts, stupid press conferences etc…. with shaq, clevland will be one thing for sure: the most (self)talked about team in the nba (in sports maybe!)….this will be great!!! and imagine all the play-off hate they`ll be spreading:
first round vs boston: lebron gets his revenge for 2008
second round vs miami: shaq hating on wade
conf. finals vs magic: shaq hating on everyone and lebron shakin hands with dwight after every basket
finals vs lakers: WOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!! so much hate but into one series!!!!
For Off The Road tire : huge, for driving slow but you can’t destroy it !
Duncan 5
Shaq 4
The Big Witness?
This should be interesting.
Z complements The Big Shaqalier well (have you ever seen Z in the post? Neither have I). And The Diesel will disrupt Cavs’ offense? What f*cking offense?! LeBron dribbling 25 feet from the basket for 20 seconds before going 1-on-5?
We’re still in the market for a PF and a swingman so it should add up to good things in the upcoming most important season for the Cavs.
If you want to sip the Haterade, you can’t do it based on strategic grounds. At least in theory, this trade can work.
This is a BAD TRADE.
@Jukai: exactly, now Howard would be occupied with Kazaam and Z would go against Gortat or LeBron at the 4 (god forbid he figures out the LePostUp actually works). With each old big playing 20-25 mins, both are well rested and are utilized according to their specialty.
The corpse of Ben Wallace and a dude named Sasha?
What are they doing in Phoenix?
Seriously, they sacrificed nothing. They had to make a move to satisfy Lebron, and they did. And to make that move, they gave up NOTHING!
NOTHING!
NOTHING!
NOTHING!
In case y’all missed it, the Cavs gave up NOTHING!
He kind of mentioned it at Showdown at Chinatown yesterday.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06252009/sports/knicks/steve_nash_176064.htm
The point is, they got Shaq for BEN WALLACE AND SASHA!.
Put aside the Shaq hate, and I know that’s hard. Shaq is still a decent center, and they traded NOTHING to acquire him.
Come on, this makes PERFECT sense. Now, Ferry needs to trade Big Z and get him a wing player. There are teams out there that like Z’s skill set.
They just need one more wing, that’s all. A nice 2/3. I don’t know who they get, but I know that’s the easiest position in the league to fill. Hell, isn’t Ariza a free agent! And Odom?
There are moves to be made people.
Not sure how Pau relates to me comment. You’ll have to explain it to me.
Chendaddy
Shaq can guard Dwight. If Kendrick Perkins can guard Dwight, Shaq can guard Dwight. The problems you mentioned about the wing players are true, which is why I discussed the fact that it’s quite easy to pick up a quality wing in the league.
However, Shaq can guard Dwight. He may struggle in pick and rolls, but he has no problem putting a body on players and guarding them. Hell, Shaq can still guard Tim Duncan. Y’all are slipping on Shaq’s low post defense. He’s lazy and not a great shot blocker, but he can play one-on-one defense as well as anybody in the league.
Great complement to Shaq and Lebron. And a helluva player as the FOURTH option on any team.
http://hoopshype.com/salaries/cleveland.htm
Kobe
Wade
Grant
Lebron One other thing, Eboy is like Bill simmons in that he constantly speaks as if he is the smartest basketball head ever yet is wrong about everything, and never admits it.
2- Saying that Shaq is getting older is completely irrelevent. They’re not expecting 29 and 12 from him. 18 and 8 will do just fine, they traded for 2009 Shaq and they’re expecting 2009 Shaq. (the 3rd best center in the league not the MDE).
3- You have to be blind to not see that he gives them the option of NOT doubling down low. Shaq can handle his man on the block by himself just fine. That has a GREAT impact on the Cavs’ interior D.
4- They gave up nothing. nada. niet. rien du tout.
5- As much as everybody is playing the adjusting to Bron in the paint argument, the truth is that Bron spends as much time in the paint as the other star wings. Wade shot 674 times in the paint last year. Bron? 685. What adjustment is Shaq going to have to make?
And why are we pretending that Lebron can’t play with shaq clogging the lane?
Has anybody watched Ben Wallace and Anderson Varejo play? Did y’all forget how DWade got to the paint just fine against the Mavs.
Shaq plays low post defense. He reduces big Z’s minutes. Once the Cavs get 2/3 who can defend and hit the three occasionally, they will match up with all the top teams in the East.
You are absolutely right about the pattern of Shaq’s behavior.
He’s followed that pattern everywhere.
And everywhere outside of Phoenix, they went to the Finals.
Can’t forget that.
You raise great points about what Shaq will have at the end of the season.
I think the Cavs will shift Z to the bench, and maybe try to follow the Suns lead in giving Shaq rest of back to backs. I would at least. That way, Z’s playing time isn’t cut as drastically and you rest the big fella.
I would hope the Cavs are looking at Ariza. That’s where I would be looking right now, and possibly, maybe, considering Rasheed Wallace for one year.
F*cks sakes.
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