ESPN is reporting that the long rumored Shaq-to-Cleveland trade is a done deal. Book the NBA Finals in 2010. Now.
Once again, Danny Ferry pulls a rabbit out of a hat. We lose Ben Wallace & Sasha Pavlovic in the trade, which isn’t losing much. Wallace has appeared done for a while - even in the playoffs, with loads of rest, Wallace often couldn’t even jump high enough to dunk the ball. As for Sasha - no one has ever needed a change of scenery more than Sasha. He looked uninterested, lost, his head was never in the game. Perhaps in Phoenix, Sasha can get back to being a productive player, but as of now, he’s a big fat nothing.
And if you told me at any time in the last season that we could get rid of two of our least productive players, and get SHAQ, I’d have laughed in your face. Well, we just did it. Which begs the question - is Shaq done, too?
Not by a long shot. Shaq at half strength is a dominant force, even if all he does is defend and rebound. But Shaq is still capable of putting up 30 points and 20 rebounds on any given night. Teamed with Lebron, Shaq is going to have plenty of room to roam.
And Shaq can pass - adding another passer to the Cavs will make them look like a precision Platonic Form of Basketball.
Book the Finals.
