| | when i heard about the trade for Shaq, i could barely contain myself, and it was all that i could do not to barge into the house and totally disrupt the girls' conversation. i had trouble getting to sleep last night and i was pumped to talk about it at work today.
however, very few people seemed that excited about it...and these were serious cavs fans too!
Here are my thoughts on the Shaq trade. Before I go any farther, let me state that I am a big Shaq fan. I loved him when he went to the Lakers, I cheered him on during the Laker dynasty years, and I lost most of my respect for Kobe Bryant when he broke up the Laker dynasty and chased Shaq outta town. I have some of Shaq's rap CD's and own many of his movies, including Kazaam and Steel. I've even read his book! Obviously, I may not be as objective as some people!
As a basketball fan, I love the trade. Shaq is a genuine, bonafide superstar who is going to only amplify the star power that LeBron already has brought to Cleveland. He'll attract other quality players to Cleveland as well.
As a Cavs fan, I LOVE THIS MOVE. Seriously, what is there not to like about it? We traded away a long-past-his-prime guy who has less offensive game than I do (Ben Wallace), a guy who couldn't string together a series of quality games to save his life (Sasha Pavlovic), a second round pick who might not even make the team, and cash for...a guy who was All-NBA Third Team last year, one of the top centers ever to play the game, and one of the biggest, most physically imposing players in the NBA in Shaq Diesel. I never, ever was really that crazy about the trades involving Wallace and it took a LOT of mental mind tricks to convince myself that it was a great trade. Putting a player on the floor who has no offensive game and is not an offensive threat puts a team at a 4-on-5 disadvantage and when you're going up against teams like the Celtics and Magic who can score points in bunches, that's a tremendous handicap. As far as Sasha, he wasn't consistent enough to get serious minutes on a team like the Cavs. When he got time in the playoffs this season, he struggled, and his biggest impact was being the first guy to grab LeBron after he hit his heroic game-winning shot in Game 2 against the Magic. I would MUCH rather lose him than Delonte West or even Wally, whose 3 point shooting is still a strong asset.
I've heard complaints about Shaq's big salary, which is funny to me, because I haven't had the privilege of speaking to Dan Gilbert about the move. Nor did I have the opportunity to talk with Danny Ferry about it either (although this one actually could have come true, because I saw him at a restaurant a few weeks back!). As long as you're not the one cutting the check or having to play games with the salary cap, I see no reason to complain. We are blessed with an owner like Gilbert who is willing to put his money where his mouth is and build a winner, and we should be grateful...it's a lot better than having owners like the Dolans, who are trying (and presently failing) to build a winning Indians franchise with a budget equvialent to the balance of my savings account.
I haven't heard this one today, but that's probably because I've been hearing it ever since Shaq was playin' on the west side with the Lakers: Shaq is an awful free throw shooter. Well, LeBron isn't that great either, would you like to get rid of him? Besides, Mike Brown is a smart coach, and he'll put Z (who's among the top 10 centers in free throw percentage) on the floor during close games.
While we're talking about Z, I would like to briefly digress to state that my admiration for Z grew for leaps and bounds today. Z's been with the Cavs through it all--several foot surgeries, the down years when Ricky Davis shot at the wrong basket to improve his rebounding stats and when one could purchase near-courtside seats for $10 outside the arena because demand was so low, and the rise and success that followed the fortuituous bounce of the ping pong ball in the 2003 NBA Draft Lottery that brought us LeBron James. He's been a starter and is considered to be one of the top 3 centers in the Eastern Conference. What did he do when the Cavs' management notified him that they were considering trading for Shaq? He agreed to relinquish his starting role and go to the bench. THAT'S a team player, folks.
Look, I'm a realist. We're not getting the Shaq who wore purple and gold for the Lakers, I realize that. Maybe we're not even getting the Shaq who lit up South Beach in 2006 to win the title with the Heat. However, we are getting a massive, imposing player who will at the very least play better D on Dwight Howard or Kevin Garnett than Joe Smith, Ben Wallace, Z, or any other forward on the roster could. If he can slow down quality centers to the point where we don't have to double-team and leave shooters open for 3 pointers, which I am fairly confident that he'll be able to do, the trade will be well worth it. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, Shaq is hungry and driven. He just saw Kobe emerge from his large shadow and win a title without him manning the middle, and you better believe that he wants to ensure that he gets his 5th NBA title before he retires. Hopefully, for all of us long-suffering fans who are desperate to live to see the Cavs win 1 NBA title, he will.
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| | Posted 6/25/2009 10:16 PM - 7 Views - 2 eProps - 1 Comment
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