Tradewinds Installment 3: Shaq Is Getting in the Way in PHX, May Team Up With LeBron

Forget about Amare, all of a sudden the Sun most like to move is Shaq. And the rumored destination? According to Windhorst, it’s the Cavs:↵↵⇥From the people around the league I am talking to today, the Cavs are one of the most aggressive teams at this point. They are convinced that they have an advantage as a buyer and do not want to let a chance slip past as teams everywhere are looking to sell.↵⇥
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↵⇥Several reliable sources have told me they have offered Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic (only $1 million guaranteed) for Shaquille O’Neal. The Suns may want to keep Amare Stoudemire but now have abandoned their plans to play slow down and Shaq is in the way. Also, it would save them millions next season because Wallace’s contract actually decreases next season and Pavlovic is not fully guaranteed.↵↵

I’ve spent the last hour arguing with people about this scenario, saying that Shaq will keep James from attacking the basket, and that with West coming back, the Cavs will already be trying to rekindle their early season chemistry. Never mind that this season, Cleveland hasn’t exactly been the slowest of teams. But many qualified minds have told me that this deal would just mean O’Neal taking Wallace’s minutes (and then a little more), and that on defense, his contributions would be huge. It’s a definite “win now” move, but don’t forget, LeBron James did invent the mini-max designed to make his team win before he can leave. Does the logic extend that far? We’ll see, I guess.↵Plus, it just so happens that Shaq’s massive deal expires in the summer of 2010.
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↵So maybe I’m just a Shaq-hater who wants to see him blamed partly for what happened in Phoenix, and feel like Terry Porter took a little too hard a fa... Whatever. Porter’s a born scapegoat and Shaq’s a champion. I’ll settle for the partial gratification offered by this phrase: “The Suns may want to keep Amare Stoudemire but now have abandoned their plans to play slow down and Shaq is in the way.”↵