Shaq-Fu at The Q! Cavaliers Land O'Neal

The worst kept secret in the NBA's rumor mill finally became a reality early this morning when Cavs GM Danny Ferry and his former Cleveland teammate and current Phoenix Suns GM Steve Kerr agreed in principal to a deal that sends Shaq to the Cavs and Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, the #46 pick and $500,00 to the Suns.

This exact deal reportedly almost happened last February at the trade deadline but the Suns preferred Wally Szczerbiak's expiring contract over Ben Wallace's which had one more year left on it. There was talk earlier this month that the Suns were looking for talent and not just cap relief and were requesting Delonte West be added to the deal. This would have been a deal breaker for the Cavs as they know Delonte is a proven, young defensive minded player who can create his own shot. There aren't many of those types on the current Cleveland roster, if you haven't noticed yet. Ferry was determined to get the best deal with the Sasha/Wallace package and he went out and made the biggest splash he could have possibly made.

This trade could do wonders for both teams as Phoenix is now able to save a ton of money without having to enter complete rebuilding mode and will have an extra draft pick to help them get younger tonight and with all of that money coming off the books next season they may be players in the Free Agency Frenzy of 2010. Or they may opt to start building a younger core of players and stay under the luxury tax.

Even though Shaq is looking for a new 2 or 3 year deal he will probably only be a 1 year rental. He may be the most valuable 1 year rental in the history of the NBA as the existence of the entire franchise hangs in the balance with the anticipated free agency of LeBron James drawing closer by the day. After I got word of the trade early this morning I turned on ESPN Radio to hear the national reaction and Chris Broussard said that this might be enough to entice LeBron to sign an extension this summer. According to Broussard, LeBron signing an extension would make Cleveland a valuable destination for 2010 free agents. Not only that, but it would put several members of the New York media out of work as the constant LeBron-to-NYC buzz would finally come to an end.

People who are hating on this trade, if they exist, need to realize that Cleveland got Shaq for basically nothing. Ben Wallace hasn't been Ben Wallace since 2004 and Sasha Pavlovic has never lived up to his potential and has given the Cavs very inconsistent production the past two seasons. It's a shame that Sasha never established himself with the Cavs because he has the size that the Cavs are looking for in a small forward but his mental lapses always seemed to get in the way of his progress. Wallace gave us good minutes while he was here and Cleveland fans should have nothing but respect for him as he gave it all he had and played through nagging injuries. My fondest memory of Ben as a Cavalier may very well be his first game as a Cavalier when he made his presence known immediately by scoring a layup then turning around and stealing the ensuing inbounds pass and scoring again. Unfortunately, his body started breaking down fast and his passion started to do the same. Phoenix may be able to work a buy out if Wallace decides to retire as he hinted to after the Eastern Conference Finals.

In the end, Danny Ferry was able to get the player he wanted without giving up more than he wanted in the deal. While he got the big fish ("The Big Walleye" ??) that he wanted, he may not be done dealing. With the draft only hours away, another splash will prove just how serious Ferry and the Cavs are about winning a championship in 2010.

edit: The Cavs gave up the 2010 second round pick not the 2009 #46 pick.

Antawn Jamison Anyone?

Today’s rumor? Antawn Jamison. Brought to you by draftexpress.com.

-While plenty of media outlets are speculating about a potential deal between Cleveland and Phoenix, we’ve heard some talk of a possible trade between Cleveland and Washington actually. The deal would essentially be a cost-cutting move for the Wizards, sending Antawn Jamison and filler (Mike James) to the Cavs for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic. Wallace seems likely to retire, and Pavlovic is on a non-guaranteed contract for next season. It’s not clear whether the Wizards would need to surrender the #5 pick. Jamison is attractive to the Cavs since he’s exactly the type of combo forward they were missing to match up with Orlando’s Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu.

This is by far my favorite one yet. I hate the Rasheed Wallace rumor. I could live with the Shaq trade, accept now I’m hearing Shaq wants a 2-year extension and I don’t like that idea.

But Antawn Jamison? Yes he’s old, he just turned 33 and has 3 years left on his contract, but who cares? Antawn seems to be getting better every year. Last season he averaged 22.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. That would make him the Cavs leading rebounder and second in points per game. Lets face it the Cavs biggest need going into the off-season is a PF and Antawn is a great PF.

The only downside to this trade is the 3-year contract Jamison has. Could his contract potentially block the Cavs from being able to sign a Chris Bosh type of player in 2010 if LBJ sticks around? Possibly, but we need to win now, while we know Lebron is going to be here.

If we could get Shaq and his 1-year deal i would take that trade over Antawn and his 3-year deal. But if Shaq is going to demand a 2-year extension, it comes down to the fact that Antawns contract isn't worth as much money and i think you'd get more production out of him than Shaq over the course of 3 years.

I wouldn't be thrilled about getting the 5th pick in the draft. The value in this draft isn't very good in my opinion. Getting that pick would only add more money to our salary cap that we don't need.

Tomorrows rumor predictions, Hedo or Boozer.

photo credit: si.com

Shaq Crackle and Pop

We might as well keep going with the rumors. It seems to be the trend around the Cleveland Sports Flow.

The latest rumor has the Cavs trading for Shaq Fu or if traded to Cleveland, he could become know as The Big Walleye or Shaq Magnum.

Last winter these same rumors were floating around and Danny Ferry did say there were talks with Phoenix but both sides were never close on working something out. The deal breaker was Delonte West. Phoenix wanted him and Ferry wouldn’t consider trading his starting SG.

What it comes down to is Phoenix is in salary cap hell and they are rumored to be trying to unload Amare Stoudamire and Shaq.

I would have to imagine they would want some young talent in exchange for Shaq. As much as I would like to think we could give them Ben Wallace and Sasha, we all know that’s not possible. The money adds up but chances are they'll still want Delonte and unless we plan on signing a free agent guard I don’t see this trade happening because Boobie Gibson is not the man.

My plan would be to get Shaq. If Phoenix wants Delonte, give him to them, along with Big Ben. We can sign a free agent point guard and move Mo to the SG position. I don’t see any free agents at the SG position that I like accept Trevor Ariza. I would like to see Andre Miller, Jason Kidd, or Mike Bibby in a Cavs uniform.

Shaq is due $20 next season and we still have Big Z on the roster. With both Shaq and Z being old it would be an ideal situation for them to split time at center. Also both players will be free agents in 2010 so we don’t have to worry about extra money on the books in that crucial free agent year.

Please No Rasheed

Six words came to mind when I heard the rumor about Rasheed coming to Cleveland. WHO COMES UP WITH THIS CRAP? Seriously, why would we want the crybaby of all crybabies on this team? If there is one guy in the league that I can’t stand, it’s Sheed, closely followed by Kevin Garnett, but that’s another story. Sheed would bring nothing to this team, and in a survey I made up 80% of basketball fans cant stand him either.

He wouldn’t bring youth he’s 35 and getting slower and lazier by the day. He has a terrible attitude so he doesn’t bring leadership or a positive vibe. His field goal percentage and points per game have been in a steady decline the last couple of seasons. And most importantly he’s Sheed.

There are so many other options out there if the main goal is finding someone that can keep Dwight Howard in check next season. It’s rumored that The Raptors are privately acknowledging that they might need to trade Bosh, or risk losing him as a free agent in 2010. Or how about Shaq, he’s apparently on the trading block. I think free agent Chris Andersen could probably play solid defense against Howard. I'd even take a chance on Jermaine O'Neal.

Rasheed is not the answer and he shouldn’t even be thought of as part of the solution. If the Cavs are going to win next year, $10 million a year for 2 years for Rasheed would be a waste of money and space on the roster.

Columnist warns Cleveland. Should we be scared? No.

I found an article that Gregg Doyle of cbs.sportsline.com wrote the other day and it made me cringe. This article claims the Cavaliers have no chance at winning the NBA title and I felt the need to address a couple of points that I feel he is way off on.

Careful, Cleveland. Your Cavaliers are riding high, which means you're riding high, and that's fine as long as you ride high with one realization:

Your team isn't winning the NBA title. Not this year.

So keep that in mind, or at least keep that possibility in mind, as your Cavs continue to destroy the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Have your confidence. Enjoy this ride. But understand that there are certain things you cannot say, certain ways you cannot act, unless you have the best team in basketball. And you do not.

I beg to differ. Doesn’t having the best record in the NBA give us the right to gloat about being the best team? Doesn’t holding opponents to a league low scoring avg. of 91.4 points per game give us reason to believe we are the best? Or how about the FACT that we had the best point
differential in the NBA at +8.9?

• Series: Cavaliers 3, Hawks 0

So don't let your alligator mouth overload your hummingbird ass.

Pot meet kettle!

Because the Cavaliers, as good as they are -- and they won 66 games this season, scorched Detroit in the first round of the playoffs, and are scorching Atlanta in the second round -- are not good enough to win the NBA title.

And I like Cleveland. Because I love LeBron James. He's my favorite athlete in sports -- I'm allowed to have one, right? -- but I don't like his team. Not as an NBA champion. That's an insult to the champions who came before, none of which had a frontcourt as pathetic as Cleveland's.

Here's a list of NBA champions. Try to find a team that was good enough to win an NBA title yet was bad enough to start players like Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao at center and power forward. You can't. Don't bother.

Most NBA champions have had someone like Shaquille O'Neal or Tim Duncan -- sometimes with David Robinson -- or Hakeem Olajuwon or the combination of Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace. Going back a little farther, NBA champions had big men like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (and James Worthy) or Robert Parish-Kevin McHale-Larry Bird or Moses Malone. Or even Jack Sikma. Wes Unseld. Bill Walton.

Since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976, the only exception to my Big Man Theory is the Chicago Bulls dynasty of Michael Jordan, and Cleveland fans are probably clinging to that exception like a drunk clinging to a barstool. Well, forget it. Sober up.

We will cling to it. There is more than one way to build a basketball team. When you have a player as good as Tim Duncan or Shaq or Hakeem, you build that team from the inside out. But when you have a Michael Jordan or LeBron James you build the team around them. You don't want somebody clogging the lane on this team. You want that area open, so you build your team with one of two things. Jump shooting big men or fast big men that can rebound. The Cavs have both of these players in Anderson and Z, that is why we won 66 games.

I'll give you this, that LeBron James is as good as Michael Jordan. Seriously. He is.

But Cleveland has no Scottie Pippen.

Hell, Cleveland doesn't even have 6-foot-10 Horace Grant, who was good for a double-double. And clearly Cleveland doesn't have Dennis Rodman, who was built like Wally Szczerbiak but averaged a Kareem-like 15.5 rebounds per game when the Bulls were winning titles from 1996-98.

Cleveland doesn’t need Pippen, Grant or Rodman. This Cleveland team has something that you can't put a pricetag on: chemistry - on and off the court. These players stand by each other, they trust each other, they feed off of each other and they are each other’s biggest fans. Each one of these players believes in the system and play their rolls to a T.

The only reason Pippen, Grant and Rodman were as good as they were, is because of Jordan. Don’t act like Rodman and Grant were great players either, together they went to 3 all-star games. The Cavs have Ben Wallace and Z, each with multiple all-star appearances.

So what I'm saying is this: If Cleveland is going to win an NBA title this season, with this roster, it will have to do something that has never been done: Win an NBA title without a great frontcourt, and without a great supporting cast for its superstar.

Hell, maybe LeBron is that good. Honestly, I wouldn't mind it. Wouldn't even mind being wrong about this particular column. I don't want LeBron to make the clichéd leap from small-market Ohio to New York. I live in Ohio, too, and I want him to stay -- but he has to think he can win it all to stay. Winning it all this season, one year before he becomes a free agent, surely would convince him to re-sign with the Cavaliers.

But this team has a major flaw, one that general manager Danny Ferry hasn't corrected. He did fabulous work to acquire Mo Williams, Delonte West and Szczerbiak to play alongside James, and the result was 66 wins. Only 12 teams have won 66 games in the regular season, and since the NBA-ABA merger only one failed to win the title: Dallas, in 2006-07. Guess what that Dallas team didn't have? A great frontcourt. Dirk Nowitzki is 7-0 and brilliant, but the Mavs' inside players were Erick Dampier and DeSagana Diop. And you don't win an NBA title with Erick Dampier and DeSagana Diop.

The Cavs have been second in the league in rebounds the past 2 years. That alone tells you our frontcourt isn’t terrible, plus Z does plenty of scoring. Why would Ferry go out and waste money building up the front court when the Cavs obviously have struggled shooting the outside jumper in past years. This team needed Delonte and Mo “Flo” so defenses couldn’t double LeBron all the time. What Ferry did is gave LeBron a couple jump shooters he could rely on. This includes Z’s spot on jumper.

Nor do you win one with Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao. No, I take that back. A team could very well win an NBA title with Ilgauskas and Varejao, but only if they're coming off the bench. If those guys are your backups at center and power forward, you have a formidable team. If they're the best you've got? Yuck. Ilgauskas is 7-3 and still plays below the rim, lacking the fast-twitch muscles to do anything but spot up and shoot. Varejao has muscle and effort but no skill. Backups Joe Smith and Ben Wallace? They're done. Their gas tanks are empty. This isn't 2004.

As I agree that Anderson is not a legitimate starter at PF but to say that Z should come off the bench is ridiculous. Z is still a force in the NBA and has played a huge role in getting the Cavs where they are today. I can almost guarantee that teams hate playing against Anderson, he is like an annoying gnat, and hustles till the end. He may not be the most talented player but his hustle and unwillingness to quit more than makes up for it.

And this isn't conjecture, people. This is fact. Look who's left in the East: Orlando and Boston. And look who has been most likely to come out of the West: the Lakers or Rockets. All four of those teams have, or had, great size. Orlando has Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis. Boston had Kevin Garnett, plus some Ilgauskas-and-Varejao pieces like Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis and Leon Powe. Houston: 7-6 Yao Ming. The Lakers: Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom.

Cleveland played those four teams, when those teams were at full strength, a total of 10 times this season.

And lost seven.

Think about it. Against everyone else in the NBA, including the playoffs, Cleveland is 73-9.
Against Boston, Orlando, Los Angeles and Houston -- arguably, teams with the NBA's best four frontcourts -- Cleveland is 3-7.

By my count the Cavs were 4 – 7, and Z was out for 3 of those loses and Wallace was out for a couple also. So of the 10 times those teams were at full strength, 5 of them the Cavs weren’t at full strength. So do some research before you make stupid arguments that hold no weight.

Cleveland has caught a break in two of those cases. Garnett (knee) is out for Boston, and Ming (foot) is done in Houston. But that still leaves Orlando and Los Angeles. In five games this season, Cleveland went 1-4 against the Magic and the Lakers.

And those are the teams between Cleveland and an NBA title.

Hey, Cavs fan: Don't hate me because I'm right.

You are right? You are so right in fact that you forgot to include the Denver Nuggets as one of the teams between Cleveland and the title. I bet you the Lakers won't forget about Denver when it's all said and done. Why let the facts get in the way of a good argument? You didn't use very many facts for all of your other points.