Shaquille O’Neal has been traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Sasha Pavlovic, Ben Wallace, a 2nd rd draft pick and some cash. What exactly does this mean? Well, for starters it means that the Cavs think that a low post force is all they needed to win a championship next year. I don’t know if Shaq is still a force but he does bring size to throw up against Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard next season.


Shaq is in the final year of his contract so he will be off the books for the 2010 free agency frenzy. The Cavs obviously want to resign LeBron James and if this deal does end up winning the Cavs a championship, LeBron might not feel the need to leave Cleveland. He has always stated that he would like to stay and play for his hometown team. But, if he feels he doesn’t have a shot at a championship with Cleveland it will be very hard for the Cavs to keep him.


The Cavs are a very good team and this trade really gives them a chance to compete in the East where as this past playoff run was basically LeBron playing 1 on 5. Now, LeBron has a legitimate star player to help him out. The Cavs offense will suit Shaq better and he will make the Cavs a better team overall. He won’t have to play too many minutes either with Zydrunas Ilgauskas coming off the bench to spell him.


This tandem of LeBron/Shaq will be fun to watch and certainly will give them a better shot at winning it all. Does it guarantee them a championship? No, but the Cavs clearly needed to do something to shake things up and they didn’t have to give up anything really to get it done.