(Updated at 2:44 p.m. 6-25) CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron and Shaq: Two of the NBA’s biggest stars are now
teammates.
The Cleveland Cavaliers completed a blockbuster trade Thursday, bringing superstar center Shaquille
O’Neal from the Phoenix Suns to join current MVP LeBron James.
The Cavaliers hope they are creating a basketball duo with the drawing power of Michael Jordan and
Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — or even Shaq and Kobe Bryant.
Each of those pairs won multiple NBA titles. The Cavs would settle for their first.
The Cavs are sending center Ben Wallace and swingman Sasha Pavlovic to the Suns, along with a
second-round pick in the 2010 draft and cash.
"It is a really unique and rare opportunity to bring in a player of Shaq’s caliber. We are excited
to see how his presence, experience and play positively impacts our team," Cavaliers general
manager Danny Ferry said.
O’Neal has won four championships during his 17-year career — three as member of the Los Angeles Lakers
with Bryant and one in Miami with Dwyane Wade — and will now try to get yet another with James, the
league’s reigning MVP, who is only missing a title ring from his personal resume.
The trade is a gamble for the Cavs. They are hoping that the 37-year-old O’Neal, who is past his prime
and has one year and $21 million left on his contract, can be the missing piece that helps James deliver
his first championship to a city that has waited since 1964 for one of its major sports teams to win it
all.
For sheer star power, the O’Neal-James tandem rivals any on the sports landscape today. And if it works,
and lasts, the pairing may one day belong in the same company as some of the all-time combinations like
Maris-Mantle, Koufax-Drysdale or Montana-Rice. But it could also be a one-year gambit.
Ferry and Suns GM Steve Kerr have been discussing the deal for months and finally reached a preliminary
agreement early Thursday morning. The teams had to get league approval before the swap could be
announced. They made the trade official in the afternoon.
James could have used Shaq during this year’s playoffs. The Cavaliers’ frontcourt of Wallace, Zydrunas
Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao couldn’t contain Orlando center Dwight Howard, and Cleveland and lost in
the Eastern Conference finals — a devastating blow for a team that won 66 games in the regular season
and coasted through the first two rounds without losing a game.
O’Neal is coming off an All-Star season with the Suns — averaging 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds in 75
games — but doesn’t move as well as he once did and slowed Phoenix’s high-powered offense. Still, the
7-foot-1, 325-pounder is large enough to take on a player like Howard by himself.
The Cavaliers’ urgency to win a title is greater than ever with James entering his final season before he
can opt out of his contract. The 24-year-old came up short this season and stormed off the floor
following Game 6 in Orlando without shaking hands with any of the Magic players, including Howard, his
U.S. Olympic teammate.
Cleveland can offer James an extension this summer, but there’s no guarantee the Akron native, who has
always maintained he wants to stay in his home state, will sign it.
Bringing in O’Neal may soothe James’ concerns that the Cavs wouldn’t be able to get him enough help to
make a run at numerous titles. Ferry still wants to re-sign Varejao this summer and may look to add
another perimeter player through a trade or free agency.
The trade gives the Suns financial flexibility in the future. All told, they will save $10 million.
The 34-year-old Wallace, who after the season said he may retire, is in the final year of a $14 million
deal and the Suns plan to buy out Pavlovic, who has $1.5 million of his $4.95 million contract
guaranteed.
Phoenix owner Robert Sarver, whose banking and real estate interests have suffered greatly in the
economic downturn, said earlier this month he didn’t mind paying a luxury tax for a good team. But
Phoenix failed to make the playoffs, and the Suns are in the midst of what amounts to a rebuilding
effort and now will be under the luxury tax threshold.
The Suns won one playoff game in O’Neal’s season and a half, and this spring they failed to qualify for
the postseason for the first time since 2004. Soon after the season ended, speculation began to grow
that the club was looking to deal O’Neal while his trade value was still high.
The Suns might not be finished with big trades. All-Star Amare Stoudemire, who can opt out of his
contract, also is being mentioned prominently in potential deals.