Hindsight: Should Cleveland have traded for Shaq?

[Roy Hobbs]

At the trade deadline, Cleveland had the opportunity to trade Wally + J.J. Hickson for Shaq.  They passed, due to chemistry and financial concerns.

In hindsight, Shaq would have been the perfect inside presence against Dwight Howard, while Wally and Hickson have added little to nothing to Cleveland's playoff run.  So, did the Cavs screw up?

(Full disclosure:  I read a similar thought recently somewhere; I can't remember where.)

[Chris]

I was thinking about this the other day.  If I were a Cav fan, I would be furious that they cheaped out and didn't get Shaq.  If they had him, they would be cruising right now.

[Who]

No, they should have traded for Vince Carter.

[Chris]

No, they should have traded for Vince Carter.

Shaq would have made a much bigger difference in this series than Carter.  He would allow them to single cover Howard, which would have allowed them to not constantly leave the Magic shooters wide open, and he would give them a low post threat other than Delonte West to go to, rather than relying completely on Lebron driving and kicking.

[Who]

No, they should have traded for Vince Carter.

Shaq would have made a much bigger difference in this series than Carter.  He would allow them to single cover Howard, which would have allowed them to not constantly leave the Magic shooters wide open, and he would give them a low post threat other than Delonte West to go to, rather than relying completely on Lebron driving and kicking.

They're getting killed by primarily by their screen and roll defense. Not their post defense.

Orlando's shooters are getting far more open shots out of dribble penetration and high screen and rolls, than they are out of post ups. Shaq doesn't help with that.

[Roy Hobbs]

No, they should have traded for Vince Carter.

Shaq would have made a much bigger difference in this series than Carter.  He would allow them to single cover Howard, which would have allowed them to not constantly leave the Magic shooters wide open, and he would give them a low post threat other than Delonte West to go to, rather than relying completely on Lebron driving and kicking.

Agreed.  He also would have made a big difference against the Lakers big men; if the Cavs had won this series, I think they would have struggled to contain Gasol and Odom (if LA was smart enough to go to them).  Plus, of course, Shaq would have been highly motivated to stick it to Kobe and the Lakers.

A player like Vince would have helped, too, of course.  However, when you look at Cleveland's primary weaknesses in the playoffs so far, I think lacking a big inside presence on both ends has hurt them.

[KungPoweChicken]

Any play other than Wally could have been a difference maker. At this point in his career, Wally is dead weight. Either Shaq or Carter would have been enough to get by Orlando. Passing up on those guys was just bad management.

[PosImpos]

Yes, they should have done that.  JJ and Wally for Shaq?  No brainer.

The Cavs are lacking a true dominant inside presence.  That's what both of the teams in the NBA Finals have.  The Magic obviously have DH, and the Lakers have Gasol, and to a lesser degree Odom and Bynum.

You can't expect to win a championship without some kind of inside presence.  One great wing player can't do it all by himself.  That's why the Cavs got swept in '07 and why they couldn't make it to the Finals the last couple of years.  They need an inside presence to take the weight off of LeBron's shoulders.  He may be the greatest player in the NBA right now, but he can't win a championship all by himself. 

(Neither can Kobe, by the way.  Without Gasol the Lakers wouldn't be in the Finals - this year or last year).

[snively]

The Cavs big men seriously underperformed in what I saw of the series (games 3,4 and 6).  I thought Varejao played reasonably well, but Wallace and Big Z were awful.  I thought Wallace had a mini-renaissance this year, but he couldn't contribute significantly in this series.  Big Z was just invisible.

So Shaw would have been a big upgrade, though the Cav's probably would want a shooting 4 to help space the floor for Bron. 

The Magic really deserve more credit than Cleveland deserves blame, IMHO.  Their perimeter defense really was superb. They made Bron beat them by himself and he couldn't do it.

[Mencius]

Wally and Snow would have got it done.  I almost suspect that Phoenix would have done it just to shed Shaq's 20M salary off of the 09/10 squad.  Pretty big savings for their frugal ownership.  And if they had to throw in Hickson to get it done, big deal.

I'd be mighty p---ed at management if I were a Cavs fan.  And even if not for Shaq, they had over 20M in expirings that could have landed them something special.

You don't get that many chances to grab the brass ring.  When you're that close, you have to go for it (a peeve of mine about Danny's last offseason, too).

[PosImpos]

Wally and Snow would have got it done.  I almost suspect that Phoenix would have done it just to shed Shaq's 20M salary off of the 09/10 squad.  Pretty big savings for their frugal ownership.  And if they had to throw in Hickson to get it done, big deal.

I'd be mighty annoyed at management if I were a Cavs fan.  And even if not for Shaq, they had over 20M in expirings that could have landed them something special.

You don't get that many chances to grab the brass ring.  When you're that close, you have to go for it (a peeve of mine about Danny's last offseason, too).

I imagine they felt - and quite foolishly, it's become apparent now - that the team was already championship caliber and that the chemistry was superb and they didn't want to or need to disrupt that chemistry to make the team better.  They probably felt they already had a team that could win a championship.  They were having a hell of a season, to be sure.

The Cavs just don't have what it takes with their current squad to get a trophy.  They are a flawed team and rely too heavily on LeBron (even though you can sure depend on him a lot).  They don't have a particularly great coach (coach of the year my rear end) and they don't have a true consistent scoring threat worthy of a lot of attention besides LeBron.

They need to bring in at least one other semi-big name to distract from LeBron.  Even Kobe has Pau and Odom to take the burden sometimes.  LeBron has...who exactly?  Nobody else on the Cavs can take over a game.  Most of the players on the Cavs only look as good as they do because they are playing with LeBron, who makes everybody on his team play better.

What the Cavs need to do this offseason is unload some of their expirings and try to make a run at a solid FA - Carlos Boozer is the one that comes immediately to mind - or else make some trades.  If they had somebody like Boozer as a threat inside they would be a much more flexible and dynamic team.  As they are now, they aren't gonna get farther than the ECF.