So long, Shaq?

Is the Big Shaqtus on his way out of the desert?

The Arizone Republic is reporting that talks between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Suns have reheated about sending Shaq to the Cavs, reportedly for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic.  After putting up the best record in the league and then surprisingly getting handled by the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavs are undoubtedly looking to upgrade their roster.  For the most part, Dwight Howard had his way with Big Z and Anderson Varejao, and Shaq would immediately give the Cavs an answer.  The Old Diesel certainly isn’t what he used to be, but he is no doubt an upgrade.  But, the real issue here is whether this makes the Suns any better.  Let’s examine…

All three players involved have one year left on their contracts.  Shaq is set to bank $20 million, which is slightly more than I make in a good month.  Wallace is set for $14 million, and Sasha is on the books for $4.95 mil, though only $1.5 of that is guaranteed.  The Suns would cut Pavlovic (so they only have to pay him $1.5 mil), and that would bring their savings to about $10 million, combining salary and luxury tax savings.

That covers finances.  How good are the players involved?

Well, we saw last year that Shaq certainly has something left in the tank.  Yes, his 29-point, 13-rebound, 3-block seasons are behind him, but again, he’s obviously better than what the Cavs currently have.  Wallace, on the other hand, has never even averaged double digits in points for season, and this past season he averaged three.  Yes, you read that correctly – he averaged per game one third of what Kevin Martin did – if you only count Martin’s free throws.  Okay okay, you don’t roster Ben Wallace for his offensive prowess, but he only averaged 6.5 rebounds and is obviously a step or two slower than he used to be.  The NBA Coach of the Year (sarcasm, intended), Mike Brown, played Wallace an average of 12 minutes a game in the playoffs.  Okay, enough proof, he’s a scrub.  Pavlovic?  I’m not sure what’s more girly, his name or his game.  He averaged eight minutes a game in the playoffs, didn’t play in three games, and played less than a minute in three others.  Yikes.  And did I mention his name is Sasha?

So, to summarize … the Cavs get better, the Suns get cheaper.

It would sweeten the pot if the Cavs included a draft pick or two, but that hasn’t been reported, and it doesn’t look likely anyway.  Plus, then the Suns would have to pay the player they draft, so that obviously doesn’t make sense.  A little look at history tells us the Suns hate draft picks.  Just ask Rudy Fernandez, Rajon Rondo, Sergio Rodriguez, Nate Robinson, and Luol Deng, all who were either drafted by the Suns and traded away or drafted using a pick the Suns had already traded away.  I sure would hate to have all those guys on my team.

Back to the potential trade at hand.  I understand that Robert Sarver hates to spend his money, but can’t you take a simple look at the Cavs and learn something?  For the past few years, they’ve had a good team, but not quite a good enough team.  So, what did they do?  They spent some money, and got better players.  Genius, I know.  Look, the Suns have a lot of talent on their roster.  But you fired Mike D’Antoni because he couldn’t bring home a championship, yet you don’t want to spend money to get there.  And if you didn’t want to pay Shaq, why in the world would you trade for him in the first place?

I won’t be surprised if this deal ends up happening, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be happy about it.  There continue to be questions about how Shaq fits on this roster, but he obviously still has value.  The true shame is that while his value to other teams is his talent, his value to the Suns is only in Robert Sarver’s wallet.

Tags: Anderson Varejao, Ben Wallace, Cleveland Cavaliers, Robert Sarver is cheap, Sasha Pavlovic, Shaq, Trade Rumors, Zydrunas Ilgauskas