Scott wrote a little while back about the rumor. In Chad Ford’s version the Cavs give away Zydrunas Ilgauskas….who are they parting with now?
This is becoming the summer of the undying trade rumors in Cleveland. First it was Matt Holliday, a rumor which is still a possibility. Of course on the other end of the Indians spectrum, we have the C.C. Sabathia rumors. For the Cavaliers we’ve seen names like Redd, Baron Davis and even Chauncey Billups. There was even one crazy guy that thought we could get Steve Nash. (Ok, that rumor started with me.) But one rumor that keeps going strong is Cleveland getting Jermaine O’Neal. The latest ‘report’ is that O’Neal himself is anticipating the trade-
The Indiana Pacers are trying to dangle the #11 pick in hopes of being able to package it with one of their ugly contracts (preferably Jermaine O’Neal). There is talk out of O’Neal’s camp that he anticipates being trade to Cleveland at some point this summer, possibly in a deal involving expiring contracts such as Wally Szczerbiak and Eric Snow.
The Pacers don’t want to give O’Neal away for nothing, but the temptation of shedding his 23 million dollar contract from their cap figure (giving them substantial cap space to work with in July of 2009) may be too great to pass up. On Cleveland’s end, it makes sense for their ownership to spend the money it will take to try and appease LeBron James and show them they are making the efforts to put together a championship caliber team. We’ve heard rumblings about this Cleveland/Indiana trade from a number of well-informed sources, so there appears to be at least some truth to it.
Let’s start with the obvious. This is not exactly CNN breaking this story, and so it has to be taken with a grain of ‘could be complete crap’. Would Wally and Eric’s contracts be enough for Indiana to ship O’Neal out of town? Who knows. It could be. Especially if the Pacers don’t think that O’Neal is interested in resigning with them down the road. They also haven’t gotten much from him in the last 4 seasons. O’Neal has played in only 62% of Indiana’s games over that span. His point totals have declined steadily during that time. O’Neal was averaging 24 points per contest in ’04 when he was injured. (That has been his career high in ppg by the way.) Since then he has posted averages of 20, 19, and 13. His rebounding totals stayed consistent, that is before this season, when he grabbed 6 boards a game, down 3 from his usual totals.
Even if we ‘only’ have to give up Szczerbiak and Snow, are we sure we want O’Neal? Look at the injury prone team we already have and tell me that adding O’Neal is a good idea. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Yes, it would be fantastic to add a guy who averages 20 and 10, but O’Neal is not that guy anymore. He is probably closer to 12 and 8, and that’s if he can stay on the court. Wally’s contract is our ace in the hole this offseason. That is an attractive expiring contract for most teams, and the guy is still able to play some, which is a bonus. Any deal that involves Wally will have to net the Cavs the primary piece to compliment LeBron and elevate us to championship level. Is O’Neal really that guy? I say no.
Another thing while we’re at it. This is from that same article-
One trade that is making the rounds would involve the Knicks sending Zach Randolph and the rights to the #6 pick to Philadelphia for a smaller contract, such as Reggie Evans, and the rights to the #16 pick-after July 1st (when Philadelphia’s cap space kicks in). New York would move into position to have significant cap space in the summer of 2010 (possibly to make a run at LeBron James) by unloading the 17.3 million dollars owed to Randolph in 2010/11, and would still be able to keep David Lee around.
Folks, let’s be real clear about this. When LeBron’s contract expires, it is not going to be an all-out bidding war. First of all, as I’ve said before, the Cavaliers do not have a single player under contract longer than LeBron James. None. Zero. Right now there is not a team that could offer James more money than Cleveland. Couldn’t happen. If LeBron James chooses to leave Cleveland, it won’t be because he is looking for the richest NBA deal he can find. The man realizes that if he takes up too much cap space it will be a one man show. I’m sure that lesson is drilled in his head. So stop talking about clearing tons of cap space in 2010. Yes, any team interested in James better have $25 million or better to work with then, but there is no need to clear away the entire roster.