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Sasha Pavlovic, Ben Wallace, and the 46th Pick for Shaquille O'Neal

Good trade? I'm not so sure. Shaq, in his 17th year in the NBA, is still a beast, to say the least. He can still command a double team in the low post and can have his way with most centers in the NBA due to his 7'2" 325-pound frame. But can Shaq really bring the Cavilers what they were missing last season? Or was this just a way to try and make LeBron happy by pretending to put pieces together, when they are actually confused and have no idea what to do next.

The Good

Shaq has been a dominant big man for his 16 years in the League. He has been to three NBA finals appearances and winning four, he has been named League MVP once, finals MVP three times, and has been to the all-star game 15 times. Suffice to say, he brings a lot more experience to the table then any of the big men currently on the Cavaliers team. Though he is old, whatever he lost in speed and finesse, he more than makes up for with his strength and power. Only last year, he averaged 17.4 points, 1.4 blocks, 8.6 boards per game – pretty sold for an old timer. He is also a very underrated passer, since he can see the floor better from the low post as well as any big men in the game today.

The Bad

He is very slow, and he will have a lot of trouble covering quick 4s and 5s like your Dwight Howards and Rashard Lewises. Also, he will be hard-pressed to cover 4s and 5s that can shoot from 20 feet out. The reason he put up good numbers for the Suns in 08-09 was because they had tried to make him the focal point of their offence. For the Cavs, LeBron James is the man who will get 20-30 shots a game. After that will come Mo Williams, and Shaq will be lucky to get 5-10 shots, meaning he might get used more for defensive purposes.

Answer

I personally think it was a worthless trade; sure, they didn't give up much, but they are not filling the roles that need to be filled, and they have created a bit of a dilemma at the center position. Zydrunas Ilgauskas is now one of the highest paid backups in the game and can bring to the table a demotion that Shaq couldn't dream of. Ilgauskas has made more 3s in a game than Shaq has in his entire career. That I think makes him a bit more valuable, considering he has the same skill sets in the post as Shaq does at his current age.

Throughout the Cavs-Magic series, one thing that was most evident to me was their lack of perimeter defense. Their 4/5s couldn't seem to keep up with Lewis as he ran the perimeter and shot 3 after 3, propelling the Magic to their first finals appearance since 1995. Also, their 1s and 2s couldn't seem to get it down in crunch time and when it counted the most. Mo Williams was MIA throughout the entire Conference finals, and Delonte West wasn't much help either. So what is so perplexing is why ignore the positions where you have need of change, need of that one spark factor, and go after an all-pro center that is at the falling action portion of his career?

Right now, all we can really do is speculate as to what will be the Cavs' game plan come the 09-10 season, but one thing is for sure: with LeBron on the brink of free-agency, the Cavs cannot fall short of a finals series victory, or they will have a hard time bring LeBron back and will be hard pressed to fire everyone in management and start all over again.