I thought the exact same thing. If Lebron was excited about Shaq coming to CLE then he's had all day to text or call him yet Shaq hasn't heard anything from him. Personally I think this deal ruins the Cavs chemistry. Shaq demands so much energy and attention from the entire organization. The Cavs are a laid back team with great chemistry, Shaq will disrupt that. He's already declared on TV during the draft that he'd be surprised if he doesn't start and expects to. He then backed up saying whatever to help the team. Already causing problems. It'll be a nightmare for CLE. Wade, Kobe, and PHX can't get along with him, Lebron will be the same way.
Eh. Personally, I don't think it's gotten through Shaq's thick skull yet that he has to be the sidekick on whatever teams he lands on. Look at Phoenix, they made him a huge cog on that team and it turned out to be a disaster. If he refers to Lebron as his "little" whatever, you know this ****** wants to be centerpiece of the Cavs.
These are close but not quite my view. 1) West is an efficient shooter, but 2) he is too small as a full time SG. It bit their butts that Lebron was their only big time wing defender vs Orlando, and might have versus healthy Celts or Lakers. I said last year the guy Cleveland should have moved on: Raja Bell. A great open 3 shooter, veteran playoff presence, and good defender always willing to take on a challenge. Gibson + a little should do it. Mo, West & Bell would be a lot better combination for taking on elite teams than Mo, West & Gibson. I side benefit is Bell would allow Lebron to take the easier defensive assignment. Like what Arizra now does for Kobe or in years past Bowen for Manu or Shane for Tmac. But if they don't resign Varejao the have an even bigger problem at PF. If AV comes back they can probably get away with him + vet (resign Smith or another) + their prospects (Hickson/Jackson), particularly in that AV becomes a full time PF with Shaq/Z at C.
IMO Ferry should have gotten a dressing down with what he did with their picks, and it underscores how awful he is at his job. They needed to win now, they have the most overpriced roster in the league sans LBJ, and they lacked depth at basically every position. The 2nd round was a veritable gold mine for solid "play now" players, and they passed up on all that to get a dude who won't even play for them next year. Blair would have shored up their PF position, Mills would have gotten them a solid pg prospect, heck even Budinger would have given them the 3 pt shooter with length they needed.
I don't know, since people are labeling Kobe's 3 rings with Shaq all over. I guess Kobe'd rather start with a team without Shaq.
I think this is a good move. Cleveland is more of a half court team which suits Shaq perfectly. He's the best passing center in the game but in addition to that I can also see Lebron feeding him quite a few dunks in the paint. Hell a Lebron miss would probably be the equivalent of a Lebron assist since Shaq would likely pick up the put back. A lot like when Kobe would drive in the paint and would miss but would cause defenses to collapse so much that Gasol would have an easy put back. The Cavs had no real post presence in playoffs and I think it bit them hard. Relying on West to hit a fade away pull up in the paint and call it a post up is pretty weak. Plus Howard doesn't play well against Shaq. Bigger players really effect how Howard performs out there. No more easy dunks from a 3 point chucking team like last season.
When Mike Brown talks it just screams out idiot. I'm surprised Shaq could keep a straight face when this terrible coach speaks
