The Eastern Conference may have just gotten that much tougher to get through for the Pistons as Yahoo reports that Shaquille O'Neal has been traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers:
The Cleveland Cavaliers have reached an agreement in principle to acquire Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O’Neal, a league source told Yahoo! Sports late Thursday night.
Cleveland will send Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, the 46th pick in Thursday’s draft and cash to the Suns for O’Neal.
As I was typing this, Sportscenter broke the news that the trade was "very close" to being completed. I'm going to go ahead and say it's as good as done.
This means Lebron will probably have his best shot at winning the title. He'll also probably get into a lot of entertaining shenanigans with "The Big Aristotle." Remember the two's little pre-game competition?
This is a great move by Cleveland to put Lebron and the Cavs in a position to win a championship and further convince Lebron to stay in Cleveland beyond 2009-2010. The big question is can Shaquille O'Neal handle Dwight Howard? Shaquille is rumored to be in great shape and the opportunity to help Lebron win a championship will undoubtedly motivate him. There's no denying his age, though.
As for the Suns, this move is mostly financial. Sportscenter reports that they will probably buy Ben Wallace out and he will retire.
As for the Pistons, this trade doesn't help their cause any. It brings another big man (something the Pistons don't have) to the Eastern Conference, thus another team with a major obstacle to get past. One thing is for sure, it will make the Eastern Conference that much more exciting.