Shaquille O'Neal's Other Options

Much has been made of the Shaquille O'Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers trade rumors that have been going on. 

I mean, hell, I even wrote about it before the Cavs were bounced from the playoffs.

As a Suns fan, and someone who takes a particular interest what is going on with the team, I can say that this is not the only trade talks that have been going on for Shaquille.

The Suns are in a very good position when it comes to Shaq, because he is coming off his best season in about three years.  He has been very dedicated about his off-season conditioning, and he wants and yearns to stay ahead of Kobe Bryant in the now deadlocked "Lord of the Rings" race.

For all the talk about Shaq to the Cavs, let me tell you why it would not make sense for the Suns to make that deal right now.

Cleveland has no one on their roster they can trade that has any actual basketball value, well at least no one that they would be willing to give up.  The Suns would assuredly ask for more than just the Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic package that has been rumored.

People may ask why.  Well, that is simple—Shaq actually has some trade value around the NBA as he is most likely going to go into the season as the second best center in the league behind Dwight Howard.  Yao Ming is hurt, again, and Andrew Bynum is still too inconsistent right now.

Teams like the New Orleans Hornets, Chicago Bulls, and New York Knicks all would love to make a move for Shaq.  So from the Suns' perspective, who would have the most to offer in return?

New Orleans would likely be offering a package of Tyson Chandler and Antonio Daniels.  Would this be better than the Cavs' package?  Well I say it would be, because both of these players would actually play. 

Chandler would form a nice duo with Amar'e Stoudemire on the offensive side of the ball, as well as giving the Suns an actual defensive and rebounding presence down low.

On top of that, Daniels would fill the hole left by Grant Hill and Matt Barnes, who both will probably take deals elsewhere.

As I talked about in a earlier article, the Chicago Bulls would likely be offering Luol Deng and Jerome James in a package for the "Big Aristotle."  Would the Suns bite?  That is doubtful.  James would have zero impact on the Suns, and would only be there for salary-cap purposes.

It would probably take a package of Deng and Kirk Hinrich.  The problem with this package is that both of those contracts are long term—meaning the Suns would be moving forward with a nucleus of Hinrich, Deng, and Stoudemire. 

Could that work?  Well, if they want to continue to score at a huge rate and play no defense.  I don't know if the Suns would be willing to take on a long-term commitment that they did not make.

The Knicks are a little more difficult, because any deal they would make would most definitely include Eddy Curry. That would be a two-year deal for the Suns and I just don't see that happening, unless they were willing to include another player and the eighth-overall pick.  And as far as I know, Isiah Thomas is no longer running the Knicks, so I doubt anyone will be able to fleece them anymore.

So who has the best deal?  If all the rumors are true, which in itself says a lot, I would prefer the Hornets deal.  They get a one year experiment with Amar'e and Tyson Chandler down low and that may be enough to get another extended playoff run.

Which will probably happen?  The Cavs deal, because of the desperation mode they are in to get LeBron some help.  They will probably have to include Delonte West, in order to make the deal happen, but I think the Cavs are willing to do it.