Shaq to Cavs

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

As already reported in another thread, for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic

Phoenix is supposedly going to waive Ben Wallace...

[sook]

glad its in the leastern conference though. This could play very well into the C's hands...

I don't think Orlando has a favorable matchup vs them anymore but the C's can beat them with a fully healthy squad...


Interesting.

One of the most exciting NBA seasons is coming up

[duncan228]

Cavs land Shaq for Wallace, Pavlovic (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-shaq062409&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)
By Adrian Wojnarowski

The Cleveland Cavaliers have reached an agreement in principle to acquire Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O’Neal, a league source told Yahoo! Sports late Thursday night.

Cleveland will send Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, the 46th pick in Thursday’s draft and cash to the Suns for O’Neal.

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

Crazy couple of days ... I hope all this doesn't lead up to a quiet draft night

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

:cry:cry
:cry:cry
:cry:cry
:cry:cry
:cry:cry
:cry:cry
:cry:cry
:cry:cry
:cry:cry
:cry:cry

[bigdog]

Yeah. Heard it on ESPN's draft preview a while ago.

[rayray2k8]

yes, thank you, got 3 threads of this shit already in the NBA forum.

[Guajalote]

Crazy couple of days ... I hope all this doesn't lead up to a quiet draft night

At this rate, it probably will be a quiet draft night because there'll be nobody left that teams could possibly trade. :lol

[timvp]

If Shaq can survive another year physically, this makes the Cavs much better.

[Dex]

:lmao Great, now we'll have to listen to a slew of new Shaq nicknames, and hypotheticals about Shaq&Kobe vs. Shaq&Lebron.

Personally, I think Shaq is too washed up to get Cleveland over the hump next season, but they're obviously going for a bang. He's better off with them than trying to keep up with Nash and take shots from Amare.

[Libri]

I think the Cavs still need another star player.

[MaNu4Tres]

So in essence Phx traded Marion for Pavlovic . Great job Kerr!!

[bigdog]

So in essence Phx traded Marion for Pavlovic . Great job Kerr!!

Shows the genius of Steve Kerr :lol

[Spursmania]

So in essence Phx traded Marion for Pavlovic . Great job Kerr!!

Really-:lol

[Libri]

:lol

[ivanfromwestwood]

fuckin ferry and kerr. now kerr needs to send us that lopez kid.

[DynastySpurs210]

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.

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.

For the Suns, the move 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 2007 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.

[bigdog]

fuckin ferry and kerr. now kerr needs to send us that lopez kid.

Hell, the way Kerr seems to work, we can get Lopez for almost nothing.

[exstatic]

Shaq isn't a dominant force, and hasn't been for years. With Shaq and Z, they have like one healthy center.

[j-6]

He's won with Kobe and DWade, what happens if/when he wins with LeBron? "The Great Facilitator?"

[EricB]

Awesome trade.

Gave up squat to get him.

Ben Wallace should call it a career.

[Danny.Zhu]

Crazy.

[celldweller]

One less team to compete with for Sheed.

[angelbelow]

damn so many trades.

[DPG21920]

What does this do for the Suns?

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

What does this do for the Suns?


I makes Sarver's tiny Jewish dick hard because he saves money (I'm allowed to say that cause I'm Jewish :lol)

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Hell, the way Kerr seems to work, we can get Lopez for almost nothing.


Lopez is less than nothing.

[DPG21920]

How is he saving money? By buying Wallace out? Do you think Wallace will except less than the full amount?

[Mel_13]

What does this do for the Suns?

Saves them as much as $10M.

Kerr has done a pretty thorough job destroying that team. On top of everything else, OKC owns the Suns unprotected 2010 first rounder.

[Jahivah]

Shaq looking to ride the coat tails of another star to a championship ring. But he's gotten more and more annoying as he gets older and fatter. Lets see how he deals with a situation where he's clearly not the star on a team.

[Spursfan092120]

I makes Sarver's tiny Jewish dick hard because he saves money (I'm allowed to say that cause I'm Jewish :lol)
like honkey? :)

[Libri]

The Spurs were also able to pull a fast one on Kerr last summer. San Antonio traded Dragic to Phoenix for Malik, a 2009 second round pick and money.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

like honkey? :)


:lol yup like honkey.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

The Spurs were also able to pull a fast one on Kerr last summer. San Antonio traded Dragic to Phoenix for Malik, a 2009 second round pick and money.


That's the one thing Kerr did right. White Magic Dragic is the truth.

[montgod]

Dang it! Well... you know what this means? Stern will try his best to get Shaq vs. Kobe in the finals next year. Spurs have another hill to climb now besides the refs, critics, and now... Stern's conspiracy... again! :)

[spurspokesman]

Dang it! Well... you know what this means? Stern will try his best to get Shaq vs. Kobe in the finals next year. Spurs have another hill to climb now besides the refs, critics, and now... Stern's conspiracy... again! :)
His corpse will slow them down. He will take shots from lebron and it'll blow up on cleveland again. The c's will still beat them. Let's just hope we get a valid big

[EricB]

:lol @ the people just discounting this trade.

People forget how damn good Shaq looked last year.

[tomtom]

Damn thats lame... oh well Mo was revealed how inconsistent he was in the playoffs and how little support LBJ got

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

:lol @ the people just discounting this trade.

People forget how damn good Shaq looked last year.


Yup.....it's disgusting that Kerr gave a 3rd all NBA center away for nothing.

[EricB]

Yup.....it's disgusting that Kerr gave a 3rd all NBA center away for nothing.

well, i don't think he traded him away willfully.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

well, i don't think he traded him away willfully.


No he did. The responsible party in this trade is Mr. Steve cancer Nash when he said the big men on the team weren't active enough on defense. Nash has no right to comment on someone else's defense.

[timtonymanu]

This means will be seeing another year of Cavs vs Lakers talks now that Shaq is in town. Possibly a Shaq puppet being added to Kobe and LeBron's commercials.

[baseline bum]

If Shaq can survive another year physically, this makes the Cavs much better.

I just don't see it. Shaq's going to kill their spacing and drag their offense to hell the same way he did in Phoenix. The guy's done; at least with Ilgauskas teams had to honor the jumpshot out to about 18 feet. With the way Mo Williams shoots when the games matter, this is going to be a recipe for disaster.

[kobyz]

that make Cleveland scarey

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

I read a rumor that Chandler might be headed to Phoenix for Wallace now

[024]

cavs have no interior presence besides lebron. why would shaq clog up space? none of the cavs PF/Cs know any reliable post games and the cavs are filled with streaky jump shooters, including big Z. shaq is exactly who the cavs need, when healthy. i don't see shaq staying healthy though, i think his age will finally catch up to him. the only problem i see with this is that shaq is only a one year rental at best and the cavs should have looked harder for a more permanent solution for lebron.

[kobyz]

Cavs still have big Z expiring contract to use, they gonna make another move!

[SenorSpur]

OK. It's time to face facts. Shaq's short tenure in PHX was a disaster. Let's recall his proclamations when he got traded to PHX, shall we? "....when I get angry, I've been known to do things like WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS". "I'm coming here to head up the Amare Stoudamire project." How'd all that turnout?

Shaq may have had a resurrection year for himself individually (18 & 8), but the Suns clearly struggled to find the right chemistry and tempo with him in the lineup. On the defensive side, PHX was probably even worse on pick-n-roll defense than they'd been in years past. I didn't think that was possible.

Now the Big Mouth, with the cartoon mind, goes to the Rock-N-Roll city. There's no doubt that he'll be a force in the paint and a presence in the middle. He's an unquestionably HUGE upgrade over Big Z. Yet, do expect the Cavs to drop from their lofty perch as one of the better defensive teams in the NBA, as their pick-n-roll defense will too suffer greatly. His motivation and conditioning have always been questioned, so it'll be interesting to watch this from a distance. Thankfully for Ferry and the Cavs, this is a one-year deal.

At this point in his stellar career, he's clearly hanging on for selfish reasons. He'll probably resort to bad-mouthing the PHX organization, just as he's done at every other stop he's ever been.

Bottom line: Don't expect the Cavs to automatically dethrone Orlando because of the Big Fat Ass. Good luck to the Cavs for selling their soul - for one season anyway.

[Chieflion]

How is he saving money? By buying Wallace out? Do you think Wallace will except less than the full amount?
No. Wallace has stated he might be retiring. The insurance company will take care of his contract amount much like Eric Snow's for the Cavs. And of course if the lux tax is avoided, they save about 30 million. Didnt see that coming.

[mountainballer]

So in essence Phx traded Marion for Pavlovic . Great job Kerr!!

not without a reason. Sasha's shooting mechanics look much better than Marion's.
now Kerr just needs to trade Amare for Troy Murphy and his rebuilding the Suns project is finished.

[KidCongo]

No. Wallace has stated he might be retiring. The insurance company will take care of his contract amount much like Eric Snow's for the Cavs. And of course if the lux tax is avoided, they save about 30 million. Didnt see that coming.

Pretty sure thats only through injury. Ben would retire an accept a buyout say half of what he's piad this season.

Also Pavlovic only guaranteed like 1.5mil of his 4.5mil contract, so they save 6million with the lux. tax saving included.

Also Cash included from the Cavs side and Pheonix will probably sell the 2nd round pick aquired if somebody wants it.

[Bukefal]

Wow, thats awesome, Shaq with Lebron :toast !!!

[K-State Spur]

Hell, the way Kerr seems to work, we can get Lopez for almost nothing.

which is about what he's worth...

[coyotes_geek]

Anyone else thinking that Kerr's liking that TNT gig he used to have a lot more than his current job?

[florige]

I makes Sarver's tiny Jewish dick hard because he saves money (I'm allowed to say that cause I'm Jewish :lol)




:lol

[benefactor]

You guys must have really not watched the Cavs at all last season. The only reason they were ousted was that they ran into a terrible matchup and Orlando played out of their minds. Not to mention every time Howard touched the ball anywhere near the basket, the whistle automatically blew, despite him having no offensive skill whatsoever other than athleticism and bulling his way inside. He has 0 post moves, yet he got the benefit of every call in that series. I remember one game Turkoglu shot 1-11 from the field and went to the line 10+ times. It was ridiculous. It was amazing Cleveland was a couple shots away from winning that series.

I think people forget the Cavs were far and away the best team in the league last season. Orlando was a bad matchup for them, and all things considered, I think they could have stayed with their current team and still won the east next year. If you remember, they had swept the playoffs up to that point. I don't care who the teams are, you have to be damn good to sweep 2 straight series in the playoffs. Now with Shaq, they have someone with star power who won't be called for a foul every time Howard receives a pass. If he is, expect a ton of bitching for him. And when superstars bitch, the media listens, and so do the referees. Now, with this, I think they are the clear cut favorite going into next year in the east, no questions at all.
So you think Shaq is great for Cleveland but RJ is not so great for the Spurs? Hilarious.

[SteelerNation]

The one thing not mentioned in this thread yet is the team doctors for Phoenix. Those guys have done amazing things with players, just look at Grant Hill since he arrived there. They were the reason Shaq was able to stay healthy last year.He's not gonna be able to take those guys with him. I see Shaq falling back into an injury plagued season.

[Mark in Austin]

If Shaq can survive another year physically, this makes the Cavs much better.

yeah. I don't think people give enough credit to the Suns training staff - to keep Shaq and Grant Hill (for that matter Nash too with his back) as healthy as they were able to do is pretty much a minor miracle.

Shaq has a healthier % of games in PHX than any other stop in recent years, maybe in his entire career. Add another year and take away the Suns trainers and I think the odds are pretty good he'll be out for at least one good stretch of the season.

[Yuixafun]

I look forward to Dwight Howard sonning Shaq.

[symple19]

The Suns will probably improve w/o Shaq. Their style never did fit him. As for the Cavs, I don't think it improves them at all except slightly in the first 3 periods when Shaq can still be effective. He can't hit his free throws so he won't be a go-to guy in the 4th. This trade does nothing to take pressure off Lebron late in games, where they need a legit threat to at least make teams think about something else defensively.

"Let's get back to playing champioship, soul-crushing defense"

[Yuixafun]

Presti>>>>>>>>>>Ferry>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Kerr

[nkdlunch]

How are those 2 huge egos going to fit in one team??

I have my doubts

[SenorSpur]

You watch the Cavs at all last year? Or did you just watch TNT games? Regardless, you should have been able to tell from those games, offense is not their problem. They need a big that can actually enforce in the paint, which is something Shaq can definitely still do. It will hurt their pick and roll defense, but that's something I think they will live with. I guarantee Howard does not go to the line 20 times in a game, nor does he drop 40 points on Shaq.

When the Magic are bombing away from 3-pt land, their half-court offense is predicated off pick-n-rolls, just like most NBA teams. Shaq is still a dominant offensive player, but he's demonstrated time and again, that he isn't capable of stepping out and defend pick-n-roll. When the playoffs start, expect more of the same.

[Drachen]

What is Shaq's Ohio-based nickname going to be. I have one, I think it's funny, but likely not very nice.

[Extra Stout]

The 3 point shot is the lowest percentage shot in basketball. They will live with that all day long. The thing that killed them was Howard going to the free throw line every time he touched it.
In the Cleveland-Orlando series, in six games, Dwight Howard attempted 67 free throws and made 47. The Magic shot 152 three-pointers and made 62.

I think it's clear that Orlando got an absurd number of open three-point attempts and made a lot of them, but Cleveland's inability to guard Dwight Howard in any kind of competent fashion had a lot to do with it. They either had to foul him or double-team him, or both. That indicates that their interior athleticism on defense was woefully lacking, since -- let's face it -- Howard is not terribly skilled on offense, but rather is simply a monster athletically. The Lakers' athletic big men didn't have anywhere near the same problems.

Shaquille O'Neal does not help interior defense. He was a bad defender six years ago. He still has something in the tank on the offensive end, but Cleveland is going to have the same matchup problems they had against Orlando this year, if not worse problems. They will get pick-and-rolled to death.

But hey, Cleveland got a big name, and people will assume since Shaq was 3rd-Team All-NBA that this will put the Cavs over the top. And for what the Cavs gave up (nothing), it's a no-brainer. Nevertheless, I don't think it solves their problems. Basically the Cavs just have to hope somebody else in the East, like a healthy Boston, takes out Orlando.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

This means will be seeing another year of Cavs vs Lakers talks now that Shaq is in town. Possibly a Shaq puppet being added to Kobe and LeBron's commercials.

They can save some money and time and ask George Lucas if they can just borrow this one.

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/8289/jabba.jpg

[florige]

They can save some money and time and ask George Lucas if they can just borrow this one.

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/8289/jabba.jpg




:lmao

[mathbzh]

They can save some money and time and ask George Lucas if they can just borrow this one.

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/8289/jabba.jpg

You mean hire? You don't borrow anything from Lucas.

[SenorSpur]

No he did. The responsible party in this trade is Mr. Steve cancer Nash when he said the big men on the team weren't active enough on defense. Nash has no right to comment on someone else's defense.

Wow!

I always enjoy your insights into all things Suns related.

Question for you:
Are you implying that Nash forced Kerr's hand into trading Shaq away?

If so, was there tension or chemistry issues between the two?

[HarlemHeat37]

I think it's pretty clear that Phoenix is ready to blow things up..expect either Nash or Stoudemire to be traded, maybe even both..

This is a good trade for Cleveland..it doesn't guarantee them anything, but it's certainly an upgrade..Shaq will be the only low post scorer they have, since Z doesn't play in the post anymore..so they fill a big need..they still need a mobile big man down low though to play defense..

This might help us get Rasheed though, since Cleveland was one of his main suitors..

I would absolutely love to see Duncan, Shaq, Kobe, and KG in the final 4 next year though..it would be a fitting way to end the decade..

[Agloco]

So in essence Phx traded Marion for Pavlovic . Great job Kerr!!

Dude, you forgot about the cash and the second rounder :hat
:rollin:rollin

[41times]

Why aren't the Mavs and Spurs going after Zydrunis now? Cavs can't use 2 starting centers.

Z would look good in a Spurs or Mavs uni and is a def upgrade of their current center(s)

[kobyz]

Cleveland become the number one contender

[HarlemHeat37]

At least we'll have a nice feud between Shaq/Lebron and Kobe..now that Shaq might not be trying to get to LA, he probably won't be kissing Kobe's ass anymore..you can expect a "Lebron is the best player I've ever played with" comment in about a week..

[rayray2k8]

And now the Jefferson trade has almost become forgotten. :)