Shaq to Clevland is Going Down Now??

[Gorilla Warfare]

Word from a reliable source says Shaq will not be going to the Cavaliers. Instead a trade will be going down with Cavs and Wizards that will send Jamison, James and the #5 pick to Cleveland for Wallace and Pavlovic.

Turrible trade for the Wiz, hope that actually doesn't happen, it wouldn't make Obama happy.

[Mr. Sun]

^^^ i don't think so. Cav's need a defender, not more salary.

[lilfishi22]

That Wiz and Cavs trade has got to be more lopsided than the Laker/Grizzlies trade.

I mean wtf, the Wiz are throwing in a 5 as well? Seriously, Cavs was already considered in championship contention with Lebron doing everything, throw in Jamison and the 5th pick and it's basically a lock.

[TASTIC]

Nashty do you have a source or anything that you can give me/another mod? Otherwise this is all just pure conjecture which anyone can make up

[mg]

TASTIC the Cavs/Wiz rumor is on the front page of Draft Express. BTW, from what I heard it was just the Cavs rehashing some trade deadline stuff with Washington about Jamison just like they did with Phoenix/Shaq.

[TASTIC]

aaaah, cheers

[MaryvalesFinest]

The Suns should offer Shaq to the Wizards for the same deal and the Wizards get to throw in an extra contract...I'm sure they would rather have Shaq over Wallace or Pavlovic and it still saves them money after next season.

[The Diesel]

Here is the latest news:

The Suns have a lot to figure out before the upcoming season. For now, the Suns would like to focus primarily on the NBA draft on June 25. As much as they would like to zero in on the draft, the Big Cactus is hard to ignore.

The rumors of where Shaq may be traded have been ongoing since the trade deadline. Steve Kerr told KTAR's Doug and Wolf that there is plenty of interest around the league, but the team won't pull the trigger on a deal unless it is beneficial for the Suns.

It's no secret the Suns are trying to free up some cash, but Kerr wont trade Shaq away like Kurt Thomas was a few years ago. Thomas was traded away for that reason alone. If Shaq is traded, Kerr wants something back in return.

"You want to get assets in return in any deal," said Kerr. "That's the idea. That's why we are willing to listen to everything. We'll see what comes our way and what's out there. There is definitely a lot of interest in Shaq as there should be. The guy had a great year last year and he can still be unstoppable. It's easy to see why Cleveland would be interested based on the situation they are facing having to deal with Dwight Howard for the next 10 years."

While Cleveland is the team that has been portrayed as the front runners to win the Shaq sweepstakes, Kerr said a lot of the rumors are not necessarily true. He said he has been in talks with maybe 15 other teams and hadn't talked with Cleveland for about a week. During that week, the rumors began circulating that a deal was on the verge of completion.

"I've spoken to 15 teams during the week and nothing else came out," said Kerr. "All the sudden a week later all this Shaq stuff comes out. It's on the crawl on ESPN, it's reported practically as fact. There's just a lot of conversation going on, that's it. There is nothing major happening."

The rest of the article can be read at the following link:

http://ktar.com/?sid=1180165&nid=112

[-SDU-]

talking to 15 teams is the part that stands out to me

i guess thats normal, but at least somethings happening

[JohnVancouver]

Hey guys, Cavs fan here. I'm kinda torn on the Shaq thing. It would have been nice to see him in the ECF vs. ORL, but for this new year I'm not sure. The latest says he wants a 2 yr ext. which won't happen. Could something happen between he and 'Bron (Shaq running his mouth), and push 'Bron away to NY? Or could Shaq be the big to put us over the top? Ferry has to make the right choice here, and I don't wish to be in his shoes.

As far as the deal is concerned, Ben and Sasha is obviously not much. Some of you imply you'd like JJ and a pick also. Hmmm...JJ is loaded with potential, but really needs a few more years at least to develop his game and BBall IQ. I like JJ a lot, and would like to see him learn from O'Neal. If anything, the deal would be for Ben, Sasha, and JJ/or 1st rd. pick (not both). Otherwise, probably no deal. Any intrest in Boobie Gibson? I'd love to pawn him off on someone.

Anyway, good luck on getting better this offseason. With Nash and Amare, you still have a window to make noise in the West.

--- Man, 2 years ago Boobie was the darling of Cleveland. Wha' Hoppen?

[The Diesel]

The latest from Chad Ford:

There obviously has been a lot of talk about what the Suns will do this summer. In the past few weeks, rumors of a Shaquille O'Neal-to-Cleveland deal and an Amare Stoudemire-to-Washington deal have re-emerged. On Wednesday evening, the latest rumor had the Suns dealing Stoudemire to Minnesota for Al Jefferson and the No. 6 pick.

The first two deals were discussed at the February trade deadline, but talks this time around may be premature -- Suns sources say neither deal is hot at the moment. And the one with Minnesota is totally bogus, I'm told. A Suns source says that the team has had zero conversations about it.

Still, rumors are coming out of Phoenix for a reason. The big question continues to be: Where are the Suns headed? Are they still trying to be a championship contender? Or are they blowing things up, cutting costs and rebuilding from scratch?

Trading Shaq or Stoudemire doesn't make much sense in the former scenario. Lose either guy, and the Suns are less likely to be a serious contender. Although the Suns seem way more inclined to move Shaq and keep Stoudemire, a Suns source conceded that both players could be moved, and it could correspond to moving up in this year's draft.

If that's the case, here's a theory (and that's all it is, folks, a theory): What if you combine the two most prominent Suns trade rumors into a mega three-way deal?

It would look like this:

The Suns send Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland and Amare Stoudemire to Washington.

The Cavs send Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic to Phoenix and Zydrunas Ilgauskas to Washington.

The Wizards send the No. 5 pick, Etan Thomas, Mike James and JaVale McGee to Phoenix and Antawn Jamison to Cleveland.

Call me crazy, but isn't this the ideal deal for all three teams?

The Suns would lose a lot of talent in the deal and basically would be blowing up the team. However, if they think they'll lose Stoudemire next summer anyway and don't believe they have a real shot at winning a title next season, why not get something for Stoudemire now and jump-start the rebuilding process?

In this deal, the Suns would pick up the No. 5 pick and McGee, a talented 7-footer who would be a good fit in Phoenix. More importantly for them, they would save a ton of cash next season. Pavlovic's salary is only partially guaranteed. Wallace likely could be bought out for less than he's owed. And the Suns would take back less money in the deal to begin with. When you factor in the reduction in luxury taxes and consider that they might save enough to eke below the dreaded luxury-tax line ... could owner Robert Sarver really pass on saving potentially $12-14 million in salary and penalties next season?

The Wizards essentially would replace Jamison, a couple of role players (Thomas and James) and two prospects (McGee and the No. 5 pick) with Stoudemire and Ilgauskas. Yes, Jamison is very important to the Wizards, but he'd be replaced by Stoudemire. And Ilgauskas would give them a legit big man in the middle. Suddenly, they would look like contenders for the Eastern Conference crown. And if things don't work out, they'll have cap room in 2010 when Ilgauskas, Stoudemire and Brendan Haywood all come off the books.

And the Cavs? They would get Shaq, whom they apparently like. And Jamison, an athletic scoring 4 who can do what the Cavs' bigs couldn't during the playoffs -- guard someone on the wing.

I'm not saying this will happen. Again, I'm just putting together two deals that have been buzzing for a while. But the deals would give all three teams clearer direction.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009/insider/news/story?page=09DraftBuzz&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fdraft2009%2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fpage%3d09DraftBuzz