 |
The sports world is buzzing over the trade of HOF-bound center Shaquille O’Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Pairing with megastar forward LeBron James, the predictions for the team have been driven sky-high by this latest acquisition. But, in looking at the specifics, does adding the Big Diesel to the Cavs frontline push the team closer to a championship? “I think it helps Cleveland because what they had just wasn’t going to get past the [Eastern conference champion] Orlando Magic, no matter what,” Doug Stewart, radio host of Sporting News Radio/790 The Zone. “Shaq is definitely an upgrade.”
This trade has to be viewed as a last-ditch effort to convince LeBron James that ownership and GM Danny Ferry will do anything to get him a championship. Shaquille O’Neal is one of those players you almost have to make a push for if he’s available … even if his skills are in decline. But Shaq doesn’t fix the Cavaliers age issues—specifically the fact that all of their big men are past their primes and the one who is relatively-young (Anderson Varajao) is a free agent.
Sure, Shaq had a resurgent 2008-2009 campaign, averaging 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds, but can he repeat those same numbers in Cleveland? Sending forward/center Ben Wallace and guard Sasha Pavlovic to the Suns does rid Cleveland of Wallace’s ridiculous contract, and Shaq only has one year left on his current deal. So it’s obvious that this trade doesn’t necessarily mean that O’Neal is in Cleveland’s long-term plans. At 37, he can’t be expected to provide insurance that LeBron James will want to stay in Ohio after his contract expires next year. No, the presumptive hope here is that Shaq can help get Cleveland to the 2010 NBA Finals and hopefully to a championship and that next summer, when his contract expires the Cavs will have enough money to sign a younger big name big man like Chris Bosh of Toronto or make a push for a star-caliber perimeter player like Atlanta’s Joe Johnson. “I think LeBron is gone—outside of maybe getting Bosh [in 2010], I don’t see any move Cleveland can make to get past Orlando,” says Stewart. “After this coming season, Shaq’s done [and] LeBron’s going to dip anyway.”
So while this is a big news story, don’t be fooled … the countdown to Summer 2010 is still in effect for LeBron James. – todd williams
