DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Shaq to the Cavs talks heating up again

Yeah but he is too much of a loudmouth thug. His personality would only infect this team imo. This is a fun team and Sheed is just a POS.

Yeah I have always liked Shaq's personality. And who's to say that it was even him in L.A? I mean didn't Kobe and Phil have spats even after Shaq was long gone?

Shaq has always been my favorite player in the league, even more than Jordan, even more than LeBron is now in some ways.

I am extremely happy to have him in a Cav's uniform.

Minnesota drafted ANOTHER PG

Thats 3 PG's? No WAY they plan on keeping all of them. Who are they trying to get to bite on a trade?

Lawson going to the Nuggets it sounds like..

3 pg's very unusual... gotta be a trade somewhere.

Haha anyone see that god awful pizza hut commercial?

Anyways... who do you guys think we can pick up @ #30?

Blair is gonna be gone, what about Meeks or Ellington?

Actually Mullens might not be a bad pick. He young and needs some work. He can run the floor and shoot the mid-jumper. Could be a good player off the bench to bring into the big man rotation.

The kid from pitt.. Blair is another possibility. Good rebounder with some bulk on him. Has the ability to score also.

Yeah I watched him a good bit this year. If he is there when we pick we should pull the trigger.

Mullens just went to the Mavs.

I remeber questioning the selection of jj hickson. So I will learn to deal with whoever the cavs pick. I hope we pick Blair

Gah there goes Ellington.

I'd like to see Sam Young. Hope he's the pick. We need a guy with his size, shooting ability and defensive ability.

Hoping for Dejaun Blair, he's only falling because of his ACLs, but the situation hasn't gotten any worse, and he was an absolute beast in college.

Only 20 years old also.

~Lyuokdea

Our pick is up.

Welcome to Cleveland Mr. Eyenga

Go cavs!!!!!!

Haha um who? Definitely seems like a developmental player.

REACH

Don't know him, but they say he's very athletic, but nowhere near ready to play.

Don't expect to hear his name again for a couple of years.

Generally speaking ..... it seems like most players taken at the bottom of the 1st in the NBA draft are "reaches". Most players in the late 1st and 2nd rounds have major question marks and/or holes in their games.

I'm kind of disapponted that we took a developmental player. ESPN says he's a great athlete but no where near redu for NBA.

Athletes at that level are a dime a dozen.

i'm pretty surprised at the pick, i figured ferry would have taken a shot at one of the 2 pittsburgh kids that were on the board (blair or young)

from what they said, this guy won't be on the cavs bench for at least 2 years...

the cavs aren't done though, they still have their MLE, and i think that value has jumped extremely high with the diesel in town. i really honestly think there is a player out there who will sign for less because of that acquisition.

maybe ron artest, maybe charlie v, maybe j kidd...

a guy that maybe doesn't sign if we don't make that trade.

i think we have to wait until mid july though.

J/C..

The reason we took the developmental player in the first round was to save money for this years free agent period... If we took a guy in the first round that was in the states and on the team, he would have guaranteed money... Ferry obviously didnt see much difference between Green and the Sam Young types, etc.

Keep in mind that if Green doesn't make the team outta camp, we wont owe him anything since second round contracts are not guaranteed...

Boston, Orlando, Lakers, Cavs, and Spurs basically said not to the 1st round.

When the 5 best teams from the previous season decide to pass, I've gotta just trust Ferry and think that neither was worth the pick and we'll be better getting vet's through the MLE and taking on $$ through trades.

But I really did like Blair...

kinda like ray maulauga. everyone passed on him... just like those 2 guys.

kinda scratchin my head, but also thinking, well a lot of other teams passed on him.

i'm more concerned with what we do with our MLE...

that is what we should be worried about...

and if CharlieV isn't just trying to get more $$ from the Bucks with his recent messages (though he probably is), then that would be exciting.

So has there been any interviews with Shaq? Has he said anything?

They had a phone interview w/ Shaq last night during the draft. He said he's happy to be coming to Cleveland and playing w/ one of the best to play the game in Lebron. Also said Cleveland has a damn good team and will do anything to make it better, even coming of the bench if need be, but doesn't expect to have to come off the bench

LeBron, Shaq To Chase A Title Together With Cavs
CLEVELAND (AP) ―


LeBron James is a unique talent, a once-in-a-generation player who has lifted a franchise to unprecedented heights. He's also a red-carpet celebrity whose circle of friends includes billionaire business moguls and rap stars.

There are few like him.

On Thursday, the Cleveland Cavaliers added someone just as big.

Even bigger.

With a timetable to win an NBA championship ticking loudly before James has a chance to test free agency in the summer of 2010, the Cavs completed a blockbuster trade months in the making by acquiring center Shaquille O'Neal from the Phoenix Suns for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a second-round pick in 2010 and $500,000.

LeBron and Shaq. Together. In Cleveland. Imagine the possibilities.

James already has.

"Shaq is an incredible ballplayer and a four-time NBA champion," James said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. "I have a lot of respect for him and his game. It will be a real honor to play with Shaq as my teammates and I look forward to another great season with the Cavs."

One more, at least.

James is under contract through next season, but will consider an extension from the Cavaliers later this summer. Though he has given no indication he'll leave his home state, James has not given any guarantees he will stay around to accomplish his goal of winning multiple titles.

The Cavs first approached the Suns in February about a deal for O'Neal, a certain Hall of Famer who has already won four titles — three straight with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers from 2000-02 and one with Dwyane Wade in Miami in 2006.

After the deal failed to materialize at the season's midway point, Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry stayed in touch with Phoenix GM Steve Kerr, a former teammate and close friend. Talks heated up in recent weeks, but before he pulled the trigger on perhaps the biggest trade in Cleveland history, Ferry solicited input from James and other players.

Would Shaq fit in? Was he healthy? Could he share the spotlight with James? Can he guard Orlando's Dwight Howard?

Once Ferry was satisfied, he turned to owner Dan Gilbert, whose open check book has allowed the Cavaliers to surround James with talent.

Again, he got the green light.

Go time. Shaq time

"Our goals are aligned with what our players want, including LeBron, and that's to win a championship and win it next year," Ferry said. "We don't want to be patient, we want to be a team that has sustainable success."

The Cavs are hoping the James-O'Neal pairing can deliver this seemingly sports-cursed city its first major pro championship in 45 years. The deal also creates a tandem that instantly rivals any in sports and calls to mind some of the great duos in NBA history: Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Cousy and Bill Russell, Shaq himself and Kobe Bryant.

Cleveland is O'Neal's fifth NBA stop, and first cold-weather city. But the chance to play with James has O'Neal warmed up already.

"I was elated about the trade because I get to play with one of the greatest players to ever play the game in LeBron James," O'Neal said on ESPN.

O'Neal noted he doesn't need to carry the Cavs because the team already has a talented core. "I'm just going to go out there and add the little bit that I can do and hopefully we can get it done. We have to get it done," he said.


For now, the Cavaliers, who came up short despite winning 66 regular-season games and starting 8-0 in the playoffs, are only thinking of unseating the Lakers as champions next June.

As for O'Neal and James co-headlining for the Cavs, Ferry has no worries about jealousies.

"They both badly want to win," Ferry said.

O'Neal is coming off an All-Star season with the Suns, averaging 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds in 75 games, but there were times he clogged Phoenix's high-powered offense. Still, the 7-foot-1, 325-pounder can be a defensive stopper.

"He is a force," Ferry said. "Always has been, still is. He's a wall around the basket — a tall, long wall."

The Cavaliers have other decisions to make this offseason, but none compares to landing O'Neal. Now Ferry has the puzzle piece that allows the Cavs to take serious aim at ending the city's long title drought.

"It is a really unique opportunity to bring in a player of Shaq's caliber," Ferry said. "There are not many players in the world like him."

And Cleveland has two of them.

web page

shaq-interview-from-the-draft-audio

LeBron and Shaq wearing 23 and 33 like Jordan and Pippen


http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4290493


Shaq going back to No. 33

CLEVELAND -- Shaquille O'Neal hasn't picked out a house in Cleveland yet.

He has chosen a jersey number -- his old one.

Shaq is going back to No. 33.


Traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, the 15-time All-Star has decided to wear 33, the team confirmed Friday. That's the number O'Neal wore in high school and at LSU before turning pro. O'Neal wore No. 32 when he was in Orlando, Miami and Phoenix.

When he was with the Los Angeles Lakers, O'Neal wore 34 because Nos. 32 and 33 were retired for Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
O'Neal's trade -- and the Orlando Magic's deal to get Vince Carter -- overshadowed this year's NBA draft. The Cavaliers had been working on a possible trade for months with Phoenix for O'Neal and finally agreed to a package that sent Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a second-round pick in next year's draft and $500,000 to the Suns.

In Cleveland, O'Neal will be teammates with LeBron James, the latest in a long line of superstar partners to pair with the entertaining enter. O'Neal has previously with Anfernee Hardaway, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Steve Nash. He won three titles with Bryant and the Lakers and one with Wade.
James is after his first championship, and the Cavs believe O'Neal can help him get it.

Cleveland's trade for O'Neal has Cavaliers fans convinced the club can end the city's 45-year championship drought in the three major sports. However, O'Neal has yet to arrive in town and isn't expected to make his first trip as a Cavalier to Ohio until next week.

When he does show up, Cleveland is expected to roll out the red carpet for a player who commands the same kind of attention afforded James.
James and O'Neal have been friends for several years. When James was a high school star in Akron, O'Neal attended one of his games and the two stars have maintained a solid relationship. This will be the first time James has been teammates with a player as well known as himself.
Cavs coach Mike Brown doesn't envision any problems between the larger-than-life figures.

"Both guys are good guys," Brown said. "Both guys like each other. Both guys will be happy to play with one another. And the most important thing is they have one common goal. Those things are the things that are going to make this work. Because they're competitive, because they have that one common goal, I think will help this relationship and make this journey work.
"Only time will tell as we go along how it all meshes out."

A frequent user of Twitter, the social networking site, the 37-year-old O'Neal posted a message late Thursday night saying he planned to play longer than the one year he has left under contract.

"My numbers are not good enough to retire 3 more yrs left," he tweeted.

If the guy comes out and dominates like I think he will I don't want to keep him less than a year.

My only problem with this trade is that the basketball season is too far away.

shaq going with 33, not because he wants to, but guys, 32 is up in the rafters...

32 LARRY "LEGEND" HUGHES

?

Retired Players #'s

# 7 Bingo Smith, F, 1970–79
# 22 Larry Nance, F, 1988–94
# 25 Mark Price, G, 1986–95
# 34 Austin Carr, G, 1971–80
# 42 Nate Thurmond, C, 1975–77
# 43 Brad Daugherty, C, 1986–94

pretty sure he was joking..

He was joking.