It was an eventful day for the Cleveland Cavaliers even before the NBA draft started, as GM Danny Ferry pulled the trigger to bring Shaquille O’Neal to Cleveland in exchange for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, the 46th pick in the draft and cash considerations. In terms of the talent changing hands, it is a no-brainer decision.
As we’ve stated before, Pavlovic has talent, but doesn’t bring it to the floor every night, making him a nightmare to coach. Wallace is a shell of the player he was when he was winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards. O’Neal was still third team all NBA last year at age 37, and made the All Star team. He’s not the Shaq he was earlier in the decade, but he’s still a productive player.
I see O’Neal definitely being on the floor when LeBron James is getting his rest at the beginning of the second and fourth quarters, with the Cavs feeding the low post and having the offense run through him. O’Neal will be a starter, but my guess is Mike Brown will limit his minutes to around 24 to 27 per night, with the big guy getting some games off on back to back nights. This will keep him fresh for the playoffs.
When the two megastars are on the floor together, O’Neal is an underrated passer who will definitely benefit from having a player like James cutting to the basket. And if James is double teamed, how many players can stop Shaq one on one in the post?
Defensively, O’Neal can put his massive body on a guy like Dwight Howard and make it difficult for the Orlando big man down low. There shouldn’t be a need to double team in the post for the Cavs now that O’Neal is defending down there. No, Shaq doesn’t play the pick and roll well, or at all. But on the defensive end, the Cavs are getting him to guard guys like Howard.
The Magic even reacted to the Cavs’ move by trading for Vince Carter, who is far from the player he once was. Carter is soft and not mentally tough, so I can make a very good case that this makes the Magic not as strong of a team as the one that beat Cleveland in the conference finals, particularly if they lose Hedo Turkoglu to free agency.
As for the draft, I can’t explain what the Cavs were doing in picking Christian Eyenga with the 30th pick, unless another deal is coming. Eyenga will not play for the wine and gold this season, and it is an odd pick, especially with Sam Young, Patrick Mills, and Derrick Brown still on the board. Danny Ferry had a chance to upgrade the talent level of the team, and get a bigger wing player (Young or Brown) with the pick and whiffed on it.
I do like the second round pick in North Carolina’s Danny Green. Green is a big guard and you know he learned about playing defense playing for Roy Williams. He could very well make the team next season, but probably will not contribute much because he won’t get the playing time.
All in all, it was a good day for the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, the front office can’t stop here, and I don’t believe they will. More moves have to be coming to get wing players with length, because if the Cavs don’t get better in that area, getting Shaquille O’Neal alone won’t bring a title.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 
Why?… For the third year in a row, Danny Ferry chooses to draft a player who has no chance of playing in the NBA, any time soon! Ejike Ugbajoa? Sasha Kaun? and now Christian Eyenga… This one hurts the most because it was a first round pick and there was still so much talent to choose from like Sam Young, DeJuan Blair, Chase Buddinger or Derrick Brown, and the list goes on! As for the 2nd round pick, Danny Green is a very talented prospect who was overshadowed at North Carolina by the big three of Hansbrough, Ellington and Lawson. This guy has a great understanding of the game on both ends of the floor, and he certainly has the size and strength the Cavaliers so desperately need. Not only will he make the roster, I seriously think he can contribute in 2009-10, but he really needs to work on his ball handling and his long range jump shot. (Shaq is a great addition to the team because he replaces Zyrdunas at center… He will certainly bring more skill and toughness in the paint. Also, being able to bring Zydrunas off the bench will improve the bench production. It’s a good move, but there is still plenty more that needs to be done.) The good thing about this trade is Danny Ferry did not have to give up much to get Shaq. So that means there are still pieces that can be used in trades… Lebron James and Mo Williams are the only untouchables on this team, anybody else can be traded for the right price.btw,I think the Orlando Magic did the right thing by not overpaying for Hedo Turkoglu because he is nothing more than a jump shooter… they already have enough jump shooters on the roster. They desperately needed a perimeter player who could get to the basket… Vince Carter can do just that. Coming to Orlando could really boost his career because he has never had the chance to play with a dominant post player like a Dwight Howard… They really have a good starting 5 right now, but no depth on the bench, just like the Boston Celtics. If the Cleveland Cavaliers can find a way to upgrade the depth on their bench, that could put them ahead of both these teams.