LeShaq: O'Neal to Cleveland
As you might have heard, YahooSports is reporting that Shaquille O'Neal is now a Cleveland Cavalier. He was obtained for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a second-round pick, and some cash.
Welcome to the new NBA trading world. Anything can happen if you're willing to take on money.
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)
P.S. Thanks to Tofu Anonymous and Cavejunctionblazer for getting this up in the sidebar early. The B.E. sidebar remains the single best one-stop-shopping source for significant NBA news that I know of.
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Yeah. I agree
Steve Kerr’s been taking stupid pills.
I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
by haildablazer on Jun 25, 2009 10:26 AM PDT up reply actions
Give a nod to Tofu Anonymous
The fanshot section needs more love.
"I'm at the thingamajig talking the yakety-yak" - Kenny Smith
yeah, he had it way earlier than the fanpost.
draft dejuan blair
by Cablinasian on Jun 24, 2009 10:26 PM PDT up reply actions
Way earlier, but a terrible title for a news story, so it was second place in the parade...
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
Hater!! ;)
eke!!!…. DON’T DO IT DAVE!!!! /cry /slobbers in tears
The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out, burns out farms, and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.
that's pretty cool
lebron and shaq? spendy, but entertaining, if lebron stays…
"The problem with tweeners is that sometimes they’re exactly what you need to plug the hole and sometimes they are the hole."
-LaughingJon
I mean $20 million come off the Cavs' books next summer
And that should be enough to pay a max-salary free agent like Bosh (who may be ok with joining Lebron in a title run).
They are mindblowingly over the luxury tax. Shaq's contract could come off and they STILL couldn't be a player in the FA derby...
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
they broke even this year, and will have a less overall payroll than last year, per Winderhorst of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer
draft dejuan blair
by Cablinasian on Jun 24, 2009 10:45 PM PDT up reply actions
I just checked out Storyteller's spreadsheet and they were showing $74M before this deal, so Shaq coming off next year will get them out of luxury tax city but they will NOT be a FA player...
……………………….. ’cept for Lebron, who will be going from $15M to $25M or whatever the max max max is…
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
in 2010-2011, they barely have any committed salary. Ilgauskas comes off the books as well.
draft dejuan blair
by Cablinasian on Jun 24, 2009 10:48 PM PDT up reply actions
Assuming they lose Lebron, ha ha.
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
But your point is correct, the big dollars disappear after this coming season...
As will Shaq.
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
LBJ still counts as a max salary though
Cap holds, baby.
They have LBJ, Mo, Delonte, Boobie, and Hickson under contract/hold for 2010- that doesn’t leave a ton of room with a decreased cap
Yes it does
That’s nothing. The Cavs can sign Bosh to a max deal and then some.
Q: Is Greg favoring his knee?
Frye: He favors dunking on your head, that's what he favors.
the Cavs are going to get even more TV time
Lebron and Shaq are going to draw ridiculous ratings. This might not even be a basketball move. This could be a move to generate more revenue and higher tv ratings for the Cavs.
"It’s a good ol’ fashioned Rip City beat down!"
by Magnum on Jun 24, 2009 10:37 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
It is a One Year Only situation, that's for sure...
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
Seriously, they might as well score Nash to go with that. Then it would be a 3 ring circus...
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
I only have one thing to say
LeShaq <<<<<<< BrOden!
The Princess of Blazersedge
by Zaig on Jun 24, 2009 10:32 PM PDT reply actions 5 recs
Wierd Werd.
I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
by haildablazer on Jun 25, 2009 10:24 AM PDT up reply actions
Delonte West is a defensive-minded, spot-up shooter able to karate-chop Kobe at will?
I think they’re two different guys with different skill-sets that may actually complement each other enough that they could play on the floor at the same time.
This was done as much to keep Lebron in Cleveland as it was to improve their team!
This might help for one year, not long term and if you though that the NBA wanted to see a Cleveland LA finals this season wait till next year!
It helps immensely long term
Shaq is a 20 million dollar expiring contract.
And… Shaq is rich as all get out. He could resign for nothing if he wants to extend his career and try and grab an extra title or two riding Lebron.
The Princess of Blazersedge
imagine a Clev-LA finals next year
the story lines would be crazy
Kobe vs. Shaq
Kobe vs. Lebron
If the Cavs win will people say Lebron couldn’t win without Shaq just like people used to say Kobe couldn’t win without him?
How many teams can 1 guy go to the finals with?
"It’s a good ol’ fashioned Rip City beat down!"
Horry has Shaq beat :-)
And something tells me Lebron will have a Shaqless title before his 12th season.
The Princess of Blazersedge
Horry won with
Houston, SA, LA but didn’t make the finals with the Suns, so he’s been to the finals with 3 teams.
Shaq went with Orlando, LA, Miami and if he makes it with the Cavs, that’s 4.
"It’s a good ol’ fashioned Rip City beat down!"
Oooh
I forgot about Orlando, my bad. (Something tells me Shaq also repressed this.)
The Princess of Blazersedge
lol
I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
by haildablazer on Jun 25, 2009 10:26 AM PDT up reply actions
the average NBA viewer would eat that up
and so would most of the media
"It’s a good ol’ fashioned Rip City beat down!"
And we would be sick of the Finals Commercials for LA vs Cleveland
During the preseason
The Princess of Blazersedge
hopefully the puppet commercials would be incorrect again next season
Without you out there, we're nowhere here
I'm sure Shaq has a couple of self-promoting nicknames already
here are a few I think are more accurate…
The Big Shaq-alier (pretty self explanatory)
The Big Lazy (as evidenced by his Oliver Miller/Kirstie Alley-esque weight fluctuations)
Shaq-Poo (a play on his cough awesome cough shaq-fu video game)
"Smile! You're on a poster!!" - Mike Rice
The Big Quicken Loan!
(That get your interest?)
by lee3022 on Jun 24, 2009 11:08 PM PDT up reply actions 3 recs
Cleveland already had the highest payroll in the NBA, I think....
A little mindblowing, but I guess somebody doesn’t mind spending money there…
Glad that Shaq will be in the East, where his damage against the Blazers will be mitigated.
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
Cavs were at $94.7M = $116M or so after tax last season...
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
Forbes says they actually made $13M the year before last with the 5th highest revenues in the league
Record tv ratings and sold out every game
Economy can only hurt you if you don’t have Lebron and the league’s best record
Q: Is Greg favoring his knee?
Frye: He favors dunking on your head, that's what he favors.
Time to get Steve Nash while the giving is great
I posted my fanpost in the sidebar while you were posting here so I did not see this (any way to see main pages while writing a fanpost?).
I do think that we can get Nash away from Phoenix with an $11M savings plus luxury tax to Phoenix for the cost of Steve Blake and Sergio. Blake would be likely cut to get the most savings,
Why would you want an overpaid, slow, non-defender?
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
Send him to Cleveland!
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
Yes - with the athletes we have to play alongside him I believe this one works
He would make Oden an all star next year.
The fallout between Steve Nash and Terry Porter would be child's play compared to how he would ...
clash with Nate McMillan. As an up-tempo, turnover prone, defensively weak point guard, Nash embodies everything that McMillan abhors in a floor general.
I Wouldnt miss this for nothing!
Man im glued to my computer for the last few days. I want to find out when the Blazers make a move. I love this team and this dday is exciting-whos comin whose goin. ANyways, thanks Dave and Ben- this site is the best for any and all Blazers info!
by cavejunctionblazer on Jun 24, 2009 10:45 PM PDT reply actions
Lebron is gonna hafta understand
Shaq has dance moves that he can only dream of having.
The Princess of Blazersedge
Shaq was on the all-star team this year, and he’ll be in the east next year.
If Oden shows up standing up, he’s one of a few West centers, so he has a shot. LMA coudl make it on if West doesn’t or if a PF has to go on as a center.
draft dejuan blair
good point. So what centers are there in the West…
Bynum
Oden
They’ll put some 4s as 5s.
draft dejuan blair
by Cablinasian on Jun 24, 2009 10:52 PM PDT up reply actions
More by default than anything, because of Love.
draft dejuan blair
by Cablinasian on Jun 24, 2009 10:55 PM PDT up reply actions
As of now,
Jefferson definatly deserves it more than Oden or little B. TD will have to become a center now, eh?
uhhh
Duncan anyone?
other centers (or guys who might make it at center due to fan voting) that are in the running
Amare
Nene
Jefferson
Camby
Biedrins
Okur
Chandler
Gasol
Bynum
in no particular order and when guys like Jamaal Magloire have an all star appearance you can’t discount anyone
If I had to guess and if Yao Ming is injured (the Chinese fans will probably vote him in anyway), I’d say:
Gasol and Duncan starting and it doesn’t matter who is technically at center
Amare and Jefferson coming off the bench
"It’s a good ol’ fashioned Rip City beat down!"
the nba is persnickety
about positions in the fan vote. Duncan has been a power forward for years. There has been no possibility of voting him in as a center. I doubt they change his position. Same for Gasol… and perhaps Amare.
The other guys are Oden’s competition.
It's not the NBA that dictates the positions, its the teams
Duncan didn’t want to compete with Yao for votes.
but the NBA determines the format of the vote itself...
requiring the teams to choose. I’d be very surprised to see Duncan switched at this point in his career.
Thats 2 rediculously huge contracts coming off the cavs books next year
the cavs in my eyes are the hands on favorites in the east next year.
I try to help with everything," Fernandez said. "If the coach says go rebound, I go rebound. I work for the team.
You get squeezing down to the exact things. Now it's not about fluff. It's down to deal points."
They need somebody to stop Lewis.
If Turk leaves the magic however, I would agree.
Shaq could be enough to get by Orlando though. Shaq these days is not a defender, but always gets up for games against young promising centers to show that despite what people think, Shaq is still THE superman.
What's interesting about this, to me, is that the Cavs got Shaq for NOTHING
This is the post-financial meltdown NBA we’ve been waiting to see. And this is the reason KP presumably elected to turn down those crummy offers at the trading deadline. Sooner or later, these broke franchises have to start holding fire sales.
Clearly there’s opportunity in the air. I’m sorry, but I’m getting impatient. When do the Blazers stop circling like vultures and swoop in to chow down on carrion?? (Yum!)
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
As soon as KP is ready to trade some young talent
In case nobody noticed: We have no more big expiring deals attached to ugly contracts. We couldn’t even have put together the offer the Wolves made for the Wizards.
Gavin said it on the podcast today (and I disagree with his assessments often enough): You won’t get much for Sergio and S&T Frye. Maybe a higher pick for a Blair or Lawson. But no major multi mega move.
The good old lopsided trade
That’s about all we can hope for, now. But what if all the guys that KP was targetting get snapped up by GMs who still have big expiring contracts (cough, RLEC, cough) to offer?
KP’s strategery isn’t looking all that hot, right now. He needs to connect on a hail mary before the clock hits 0:00
So far the moves have been
white flags (TWolves, Suns),desperation moves (CLE, SA,DC), or inconsequential (GSW, ATL) no need to put ourselves in that company.
I am not sure we need a hail mary on a young 54 win team.
Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.
Well said...
54 wins ain’t bad. definittely no need for the hail mary yet. We do need to improve but maybe this isn’t the year to do it, simply due to opportunities, or a lack thereof. Just because some teams have made big moves doesn’t neccessarily mean the Blazers could have. And maybe we need another year to figure out exactly which young pieces we’re ready to part with. We still have time, let’s not get too greedy. I know we’re all in draft-mania right now but let us not forget the big picture (a dynasty) and the cold hard facts ( 13 game improvemnt from last year, etc!)
"When do the Blazers....swoop in to chow down on carrion??"
when they put cheese on it
"You're welcome friend
I love you."
- Tom "Dragline" inHawaii
do not fear
only believe
I'm going to come up with the best line here ever, something really clever.
Why didn't the Cavs do this trade at the trade deadline?
and use the WSEC to make the salaries work out?
Suns were still in the playoff race then
I imagine that is what held it up
Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.
Fake Cavs GM checking in
In the “mock” draft I offered similar trades of the Cavs expiring picks for V Carter and R Jefferson. Obviously, Jefferson was available for the right package of expiring deals and I wouldn’t be surprised to see VC moved if a team comes offering expiring deals.
I didn’t pursue Shaq ’cause the GM was giving all kinds of lip service to not giving up Shaq without getting value back. I guess we can either assume that he sees the #46 pick as value or he found out after making those statements that his owner is a cheap son of a biscuit!!!
It’s good to not be a Suns fan right now!
I read somewhere earlier
that the Nets aren’t requiring their GM to dump Carter’s salary, anymore. Something about the Brooklyn deal falling through and they want to keep the team together to be more attractive for other potential buyers.
Sounds like Devin Harris may not be trade bait, after all?
I would vote
but the answer is neither team. shaq is old
"It was like some sort of crazy torture in the movies. How do people do that so long without taking a breath? I think my ears are still ringing."
-Adrian Peterson, describing Autzen
Put a cherry on that carrion and we have a deal
Chris Paul is not so far out of the equation is he?
I try to help with everything," Fernandez said. "If the coach says go rebound, I go rebound. I work for the team.
You get squeezing down to the exact things. Now it's not about fluff. It's down to deal points."
Potential Shaq nicknames
The Big Sidekick (The truth for once)
The Clogged Drain (How is LeBron going to get to the basket with Shaq buried there?)
The Big Expiring Contract (I’m sure this is a favorite of BE)
and my personal favorite…
The Big You-Can-Only-Win-With-Me (We’ll see)
The Cap Crusher
The Luxury (Tax) Liner
The Big Gucci Handbag (real expensive for something that just sits there and doesn’t do much)
—Dave
In a vintage Aristotle moment
Shaq will mistake “Cavs” for “Calves” and dub himself The Big Cow.
If only…
Cablinasian says that if the Hinrich deal doesn’t go through he will be angry.
draft dejuan blair
by Cablinasian on Jun 24, 2009 11:21 PM PDT up reply actions
I think the Suns now have enough material to write an obituary.
It would sound something like the life of Clyde’s team, just that Nash never flew quite as high as The Glide.
Fast, Fun, and Competitive.
The most entertaining teams of their eras, neither was able to win it all. Like the Blazers near consitant destruction of the Jazz, the Suns beat down the Lakers. But all for naught. MJ or TD still stand in the way.
Yeah, that's the sad part. No ring because the owner was a cheapskate and then they panicked after the Gasol trade.
No way Amar’e aka Sun Tzu remains a Sun. Maybe Knicks Tzu?
It'll be fun to hear what Shaq says about Mike Brown
Seeing how he tore into Stan Van Gundy who is infinitely superior to Mike “I got my nose up Lebron’s butt” Brown.
The trade is worth the entertainment value.
"I'm at the thingamajig talking the yakety-yak" - Kenny Smith
I'll probably say Cleveland for the sake of voting, but I don't think either team won. Shaq is done
and Phoenix didn’t get much. Shaq has a horrible contract, and Phoenix is probably still going to lose Amare.
Shaq was decent last year
With a PER of 22.3, averaging about 18 pts, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. He gets paid too much, but he’s going to be a lot more valuable than the guys he replaced on the Cavs (offering offensive production and goofy quips veteran leadership) and his contract comes off the books next summer (big fat expiring contract). The Cavs got a steal.
What is the Suns motivation here?
The Suns gain absolutely nothing. I thought that Ben Wallace might not count against the cap if he retired, which would make this a good trade, but he will whether he plays or not. Salary wise the Suns will save only $1 million (does anyone know if Sasha’s contract is not guaranteed?). Shaq has 1 year left at $20 mil. Wallace 1 year @ $14 mil and Sasha Pavlovic 1 year @4.9 million. Everyone is citing financial gains for the Suns and I don’t see any as of right now. Unless I am missing something this trade is just a bad rumor because it is so non sensical for the Suns.
by IsiahRiderLivedOnMyStreet on Jun 24, 2009 11:51 PM PDT reply actions
Only $1.5 million of Pavlovic's contract are guaranteed
Ben Wallace might accept a buyout. They get 500k in cash. And the draft pick. It’s not amazing, but not that bad either since they obviously can’t contend anymore for a title.
I guess I forgot the Suns care about money more than cap space
Poor Suns, would hate to be money crunched like them. The buyout would save them big bucks then, even with the cap number still being near the luxury tax.
by IsiahRiderLivedOnMyStreet on Jun 25, 2009 12:00 AM PDT up reply actions
Gregzilla is angry
Now he isn’t even in the running for best center combination even if that Gortat guy leaves Orlando.
If you ever hear of someone punching out a girl scout and stealing her Samoas, it was me
- Mortimer
by Clevelander among roses on Jun 24, 2009 11:52 PM PDT reply actions
Just wow.
A much better pick up than Vince Carter which was one of the rumours.
Ten players, two baskets, 13,000 people, one basketball. And we will decide what is done with that one basketball.
Nice move by Cleveland
In terms of trying to win the 2010 title.
Offseason:
PG Options: Mike Conley Jr(T)/Jrue Holiday(D)/Rodrigue Beaubois(D)
SG Options: Mickaël Piétrus(T)/Terrence Williams(D)/Paul Harris(D)
Forward Options: Serge Ibaka(T)/Taj Gibson(D)/Ater Majok(D)
C Options: Alexis Ajinca(T)/Bamba Fall(D)
by TheGreatDane17 on Jun 25, 2009 12:58 AM PDT reply actions
all i can think to say is
GO CELTICS!!
"So, then, I was like, it'd be really dirty if I put up 42. So I did!" -Brandon Roy, post-game comments after game 2 of the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs
This is why I love BEdge
Fear the sword: 4 posts
Bright side of the sun: 58 posts
Blazers edge: Over 100 with 400 votes at 1 am and not involving our team at all.
"We Believe" - Rudy Fernandez
got 'em beat, even late night.
Rudyculize: The act of Rudy making others look slow, dim and generally oafish.
http://www.myspace.com/y5k
Is an old Shaq better
than a functional Ilgauskas?
This trade smells like desperation from both teams.
Don't think of it as better. Think of it as this:
24 minutes of Shaq plus 24 minutes of Ilgauskas keeps both fresh and able to play through the season. Additionally, they are both such different kinds of centers that Mike Brown can play match-up.
If you ever hear of someone punching out a girl scout and stealing her Samoas, it was me
- Mortimer
by Clevelander among roses on Jun 25, 2009 7:59 AM PDT up reply actions
Varajao is a power forward
He was playing center out of desperation. There is also a strong chance that Cleveland won’t be able to resign Varajao.
If you ever hear of someone punching out a girl scout and stealing her Samoas, it was me
- Mortimer
by Clevelander among roses on Jun 26, 2009 12:07 AM PDT up reply actions
Offensively
Who will stop Cleveland? Shaq can only be stopped by fatigue or injury and LeBron is fairly unstoppable. Referees won’t stop either. If they get consistent outside shooting, you might as well forget it. Both Shaq and Lebron are able and good passers.
"I saw him in the face" Sergio's quote on the latest alley-oop to Rudy.
"Shaq can only be stopped by fatigue or injury"
Maybe six years ago
Blazer Fan
by leeroyjenkins on Jun 25, 2009 6:48 AM PDT up reply actions
17.8 points a game
isn’t too shabby. He can still run roughshod over most NBA centers in limited time. I hope I am wrong, but last year showed me he still has a little bit of gas in the tank.
He did pretty good against Pryz and Oden last year.
16 and 8
19 and 17
19 and 6
20 and 7
"I saw him in the face" Sergio's quote on the latest alley-oop to Rudy.
by blazermaniac32 on Jun 25, 2009 7:28 AM PDT up reply actions
Talk about Twin Towers
Shaq and Ilgauskas. You gotta love that.
Missing option: The Knicks
Since that’s where LeBron will end up ;-)
I think Shaq hurt the Suns by taking up more of their cap space than he was worth. They gave us both Rudy and Sergio so they could pay Shaq’s salary.
I’m not sure why things would go any better in Cleveland.
I imagine in a few years at a night club after a portland-cleveland finals matchup
Shaq will be rapping:
This is how I be; last week LeBron couldn’t win without me
The new GM of the Detroit Pistons
bayless leaves over my dead body
sign mike bibby
Good GM's try to win trades
Great GM’s try to have fair trades
by tominhawaii on Jun 25, 2009 8:57 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Now they are trying to deal away Stoudamire to Houston....
You got to feel a little sorry for Sun fans. Oh well, one less team to compete with in the west!!!!
maybe we can ...
trade a couple seconds to them for Amundson (has a min contract), get a backup to LMA w/o a first rounder

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