Shaq to Cavs, Jamal Crawford Traded to Atlanta Hawks

Throughout his five seasons in the NBA, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James has been alone. Without a quality sidekick, year after year has ended prematurely, to no fault of his own. The disappointing finish to this season in particular was demoralizing, as the team with the best regular season record fell flat in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Now, LeBron can dry his eyes and instead of presumptively cursing General Manager Danny Ferry, he can thank him repeatedly. This is because Ferry pulled off a trade of epic proportions, acquiring center Shaquille O’Neal from the Phoenix Suns for Sasha Pavlovic, the retiring Ben Wallace, and the 46th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.

The Suns made this deal solely for financial purposes. Shaq had multiple years and over $60 million remaining on his contract, so, instead of having to fork over this insane salary to the aging “Big Aristotle”, they now have salary cap space, and room to sign free-agents in the coming years.

Cleveland made this deal because of LeBron. In order to retain him, to keep him from walking after next season, they needed to give him a reason to think that he can win a title with the Cavaliers. With O’Neal, albeit 38 years old, in the fold, the Suns now have the firepower to win that championship LeBron has salivated over.

It will be an adjustment for Cleveland, but with the dominating force they were lacking when the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard destroyed them in the Eastern Conference Finals, it will be one worth making.

I have to admit, they will be freakishly scary to watch, considering both LeBron and Shaq are built like freight trains and are powerful, dominating forces offensively. I wouldn’t be surprised if they play out of their minds next season, especially LeBron, whose wish has finally been answered.

In other news…

The Atlanta Hawks have a savvy point guard in Mike Bibby, an All-Star caliber shooting guard, Joe Johnson, an immensely talented forward, Josh Smith, and an up-and-coming young center, Al Horford. Yet, what doomed them during the latter part of this past season was their lack of consistent scoring.

They found the answer to this problem. The Hawks traded two point guards, Acie Law and Speedy Claxton, to the Golden State Warriors for guard Jamal Crawford. Crawford is very versatile: he can play both point guard and shooting guard, and, when called upon, can either drop 40 points, or dish 10 assists.

Though he’s a very good offensive player, and should give Atlanta the offense they previously lacked, he doesn’t fit well into their starting lineup.

He is a very similar player to Johnson, so, unless the Hawks plan to go with a three-guard lineup, he’ll be a terrific backup. No matter how he is used, he will be an outstanding addition given their paltry bench production.

Two Eastern Conference teams desperate to improve make bold trades in order to.