June 24th: Cavaliers/Suns Trade Review

THE TRADE:

To Phoenix:
#46 Pick in 2009 Draft
$500,000
Ben Wallace
Sasha Pavlovic

To Cleveland:
Shaquille O'Neal

What it does for the Suns:
It is widely known that over the past few years the Suns have been trying to cut salary and save some money. This deal for Phoenix was basically a salary dump. The Suns save $2.3 million as soon as the deal goes down. Then you factor in the fact that Pavlovic is only guaranteed $1.5 million next year. So if Phoenix buys him out they are at a savings of $3.8 million. Then consider the prospect that Ben Wallace retires, if that happens they could save even more with a buyout of his contract. And the topper too it all is that you can double what ever they save because they are over the luxury tax.

What it does for the Cavaliers:
This move was to provide a fill for the biggest hole Cleveland had during the Orlando series, interior defense. Shaq will provide someone who will be able to bang down low with the likes of Dwight Howard. Also this move gives LeBron James a serious interior scorer, though not like the Shaq of old, that the Cavaliers sorely lacked. The move is very low risk because O'Neal's contract is up at the end of the season. So if his tenure in Cleveland is anything like his in Phoenix the Cavaliers can wipe their hands clean next summer.

Winner of the Deal:
Cleveland

Final Remark:
This deal nearly went down at the trade deadline in February before Cleveland balked on it. Seems like this may be Cleveland's all out effort to impress LeBron before he becomes a free agent. Phoenix once again is just looking to cut costs for more profit, sad.