Phoenix Trades Shaq to Cleveland

Huge news in the sports world, Shaq has been traded to the Cleveland Cavs. The Cavaliers gave up center Ben Wallace and guard Sasah Pavlovic to get the big time player.

Despite having superstar Lebron James, the Cavs lacked a dominating inside presence to combat Dwight Howard. They believe with Shaquille O'neal they get that center that will make a big impact.

Shaq is scheduled to earn $21 million for the 2009-2010 season, while Wallace is expected to earn $14 million. Pavlovic has a $4.9 million deal, but less than half of that is guaranteed.

Ben Wallace is widely anticipated to get a buyout from the Suns and announce his retirement. Wallace broke his leg late in the regular season and was able to return for the playoffs but received few minutes.

The Suns are also expected to cut Pavlovic in order to save more money. The organization lost money this last season and expects to save roughly $10 million through this deal. Essentially the Suns will try to rebuild their team from the bottom up. They still have key pieces like Steve Nash and Jason Richardson to mold their organization into a playoff contender.

Oddly enough, there are rumors that Shaq found out the trade was finalized through Twitter.