Shaq to the Cavs?

By Jeff Christenbury in Celtics, Rumors, Top Story ⋅ June 14, 2009 at 2:58pm ⋅ Post a comment

The Lakers haven’t even lifted the Larry O’Brien trophy yet and already the NBA rumor mill is heating up. The latest gossip is the possibility of a trade that would send Shaquille O’Neal from the Phoenix Suns to the Cavs in exchange for bottom feeders Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic.

If this leaves you scratching your head, take a number. However, it seems to be all about money. The Suns realize they have little chance of winning another NBA title in their current form so they must rebuild. Shaq makes $20 million and trading him for high priced Ben Wallace ($14 million) and Pavlovic ($4.9 million) would free up a lot of space for the Suns (who would try to buy out Wallace) and gives the Cavs a big upgrade under the basket. ESPN.com reports that no deal is imminent, however.

My Take: Shaq is no longer the dominating force he once was. That said, he’s an upgrade for the Cavs as they pretty much give up nothing in the trade. It’s tough to say how this would affect the East next year but as a Celtics fan, it’s definitely not the best news, if it happens.

Tags: Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, Shaquille O'Neal

Discussion

One comment for “Shaq to the Cavs?”

The Cavs do this every year. “Let’s add a piece to make LeBron happy.” They should’ve made the move for Shaq at the deadline…because he may have been the difference against Dwight Howard and the Magic.

ps – Love the Kazaam pic!

Posted by KC | June 14, 2009, 3:44 pm