Dynamic Duo or Disastrous Deal?

They say timing is everything - it’s like saying a snow day will be used in February in Cleveland. The entire sports world is talking about the prodigious trade when the Cavs secured the services of Shaquille O’Neal from Phoenix. We now have our own Witness Protection program. The timing comment? What does it mean? It means a Shaquille in his prime teaming up with LeBron James would have been astonishing. Who would stop them? How good a team could the Cavs be?

Still, there is a buzz about town and all is forgotten about the inauspicious collapse of its beloved Tribe. The sports talk shows are titillating us with phrases like, "Danny Ferry isn't done yet" and “With free agency around the corner and Dan Gilbert (majority owner of the Cavs) willing to do anything to bring a championship to Cleveland.....”
It is a wild and crazy time to be a Cleveland Cavaliers fan.

What is all the fuss about? You just gave up a player who is talking retirement (Ben Wallace) and a seldom used player (Sasha Pavlovic), next years second round pick and some more Gilbert Monopoly money for a 37 year old legend that has seen his better days. Wise up. When has that ever worked out in Cleveland? Don't these guys just come here to gobble up the big bucks? Is it that their first multi-million dollar contract just wasn't enough!

Now you can see what I mean about timing comment. This trade, if it were made five years ago, would have rocked the world! Shaq's 22.9 ppg, 10.4 rebounds and his 2.3 blocks per game for Miami that year would look mighty nice in the wine and gold. He played 34 minutes a game then. However, last year, at the age of 37 years old, he averaged 17.8 ppg, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game for Phoenix. He played 30 minutes a game.

Dangerous Duo

Last year however, his field goal percentage was higher, his free throw percentage was significantly higher, he had fewer turn overs per game, his steals per game was higher and his personal fouls were lower. Thus the great debate begins. Are we paying( we = Mr. Gilbert, thank goodness) a 37 year old with nothing left ,$21,000,000 to please Le Bron or are we getting a tiger with plenty left in the tank? After all, you saw the all star game. He was named co-MVP with that Kobe guy. Just imagine a rejuvenated O'Neal feeding off the fans 41 times a year. Imagine The Chosen One crisply passing the ball to him preceding a monster dunk. Not to mention that O'Neal still is considered one of the best passing centers in the NBA. Imagine Le Bron at the receiving end of a pass from O'Neal and THAT subsequent dunk! His stats last year were very, very good. He is still a monster of a man and can play the low post quite well, thank you. So we have The Dynamic Duo and this was a great trade.

Disastrous Deal

Then again, Phoenix had a woeful year by their standards. They exited the playoffs way too soon despite having O'Neal play in 75 of 82 regular season games for 62.5% of the time each game takes to play. Although having shot the highest percentage in free throws that at any time of his 18 year career, he only shot 59.5 % and teams still employed that Shak-Attack strategy that confines him to the bench during close games. He never did fit into the style of play that the Suns ran and the team looked out of sorts at times. He comes to Cleveland older and nothing says he will fit in to the Cav's schemes any better. What if his appeal is like the new car you look at and fantasize about, then find out that you can't even afford the insurance?
The Disastrous Deal exists!

What, then, are we to believe? We will believe what our hearts allow us to believe. We will believe that things like this are what makes sports fun. We will believe that no matter what we think, this is a done deal. We will believe that Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic must feel pretty low every time the electronic media refers to this trade with the statement..." and the Cavs gave up nothing to acquire O'Neal".

What we believe has absolutely nothing to do with what will actually happen. Come next year, when they actually play the games and the results are tallied, then we will believe if we just witnessed one of the best duo's this game has ever known or if it was a disaster. Mr. Gilbert will believe that he did everything he could to keep Le Bron. And I do believe that that's all I have to say about that