Shaq to Cavs

[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 !!!

[K-State Spur]

, 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 hard because he saves money (I'm allowed to say that cause I'm Jewish )

[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 ing for him. And when superstars , 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.

[florige]

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

[mathbzh]

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

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

[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.