Posted on 06/24/2009 10:30:57 PM PDT by kellynla
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 had injury problems last postseason, 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
he’s still playing? i thought he retired.
Shaq is too old to make a difference.
Lebron James on shaking hands after he lost to the Magic:
“I’m a competitor,” he said. “That’s what I do. It doesn’t make sense to me to go over and shake somebody’s hand.”
Does he have a Cavalier attitude?
LOL Desperate Cavs. Shaq is DONE, this is what Shaq does, he hops from one team to another and talks trash. Talked trash about Orlando, the Lakers, Miami, next will be the Suns, and just wait if the Cavs lose next year, he will blame LeBron. Shaq is too old, and he can’t make a free throw to save his life
This will only serve to help the Lakers win B2B titles next year. I’m all for it.
I think it was a big mistake for the Suns to get Shaq in the first place. He may have been a great player in his prime, but he didn’t have the speed and endurance needed to play the Suns’ Run N’ Gun offense. They went from losing in the West conference championships in ‘05-’06, to losing in the second round in ‘06-’07. Then they got Shaq and lost in the first round of the playoffs in ‘07-’08. They didn’t make the playoffs in ‘08-’09.
The question I have is whether they can return to the Run N’ Gun offense they had pre-Shaq.
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: Ping
Will LeBron push Shaq’s wheelchair?
No, Really. !! Does Anyone CARE. I mean Really.
Shaq likes having the sidekick. He goes from Kobe to Wade and now to LeBron, probably the 3 top wing players of the past decade.
It’ll certainly make things interesting if we get an LA-CLE Finals. If I’m CLE, I’d keep him on the bench until the playoffs. Play him here and there just to make sure he’s in shape and ready to go in May.
They’ve proven they can win 60 games and get the #1 seed in the regular season and beat the lesser teams in the playoffs so they don’t need him for that. They just need him fully charged and ready to go for the conference finals and the NBA Finals.
Shaq is over the hill. I’m not sure Cleveland is where I’d want to retire.
Shaq, should of retired to the broadcast booth a year ago.
If he was built like Bill Russell, long and lean, or even like Wilt, he would have several good years left.
I just don't see how he can carry that much weight up and down the court for an eight month season.
The only way this can work (and it probably won’t anyway) is to play Shaq sparingly in the regular season to keep the tank full for the playoffs. In the playoffs limit his minutes and pull him as soon as any game has been decided.
Also he needs to spend the entire off season shooting free throws - 100s even 1000s of them everyday until he can do it in his sleep.
Maybe taking a few pounds off would help. Do lots and lots of swimming and other low joint impact exercises.
Doing all of this he might be able to eke out one more title considering his supporting cast.
You forgot the leanest long term center in the bunch - Kareem. Even at the tail end of his career he gave the Lakers some amazing minutes. The man really took care of himself.
Well Shaq-daddy is already broken down, what dominant force is this writer dreaming about?
This is such a sad excuse for a trade. We brilliant young players, not old has beens.
Sorry Shaq if it all seems like trash talk, but really dear it is time to retire.
And to the Cavs management team...what are you thinking?
This makes me sick.
Good grief! Half the problem is we have TOO many old guys.
Can’t believe Bron is FOR this.
Yes.
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