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Shaquille O'Neal might not bring a championship to Cleveland, but it would be pure gold for ABC when it opens its television coverage next season with the Christmas Day Game between the defending champion Lakers and ready-to-be champion Cavaliers.That's one you can count on. The Orlando Magic, who disrupted that anticipated NBA Finals matchup this season, would be dropped like yesterday's news. As if the Kobe Bryant-LeBron James one-on-one wasn't good enough on its own, ABC would get the Kobe vs. Shaq grudge match to spice it up another three notches.
It's why the NBA should be clearing the path for the Shaq-to-Cleveland trade, making one of the league's most charismatic players relevant once again.
O'Neal, 37, isn't what he once was as a player, but he remains a magnet for the spotlight, giving any big game an even bigger audience.
It's debatable whether O'Neal would make the Cavs better, but it's not debatable whether he still is good enough to have an big impact on a game.
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, who just beat the Cavaliers in the playoffs and who once coached him in Miami, thinks O'Neal would help the Cavs in the Eastern Conference. It would give the Cavs a low-post presence offensive presence, something they lacked against the Magic.
"Getting Shaq would help any team in the league, even at this stage of his career,'' Van Gundy said. "He's still a force, and I thought he showed this year that he still can play at a very high level."
The Suns, though, failed to make the playoffs, leading to the decision to actively try moving his contract in hopes of rebuilding. The Cavs, who still don't have enough help for James, are a natural landing point for O'Neal.
"One of the keys is, do you have guys that are virtually impossible to play one-on-one and force double teams. Shaq still does that,'' Van Gundy said. "He's still a guy that is very difficult to play.''
O'Neal would give the Cavs a defender to guard Dwight Howard around the basket, something that neither Zydrunas Ilgauskas nor Anderson Varejao did very well by themselves.
"Whether he is the total answer for what they need, that's a question they have to address. It's all based on what you give up, how do you get better, what other problems does it create,'' Van Gundy said. "It would make some things tougher for them, like pick-and-roll defense at this stage of career. But your post defense would be better, and his offense would help, too.''
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