FanHouse BenWallace

There was a lot of activity in the NBA this week, and we're not just talking about the draft. Some of the NBA's big names and better teams were in on it.

Here's a quick look at the trades that went down and what they mean:

The Deal: Phoenix sends Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland for Sasha Pavlovic, Ben Wallace, a second-round pick in 2010 and cash.

The Thinking: The Cavaliers get an aging O'Neal, with the hope that he can have a productive year playing alongside LeBron James. The only way this trade is a success is if the Cavaliers are the 2009-10 NBA champions. For the Suns, trading O'Neal means that they are beyond tinkering and are leaning toward turning over the personnel of a team that missed the playoffs last season.

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Around this season's trade deadline, there was a lot of chatter surrounding Shaquille O'Neal. Everyone assumed that Shaq or his teammate Amare Stoudemire wouldn't be in a Suns uniform past the trade deadline. Of course the deadline passed and both Shaq and Amare remained on Planet Orange.

One of the teams reported to be involved in the pursuit of O'Neal was none other than the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to reports, the deal fell through because the Cavaliers wanted the Suns to take back Ben Wallace in return for Shaq, while the Suns wanted Wally Szczerbiak. The disagreements were purely financial, as Szczerbiak's deal expires at the end of this season, while Wallace has an additional year.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but did the Cavs make a mistake in not trading for Shaq?

After the Cleveland Cavaliers' season ended Saturday night in an onslaught of Orlando threes and Dwight Howard dunks, drop-step hooks, and again, dunks, the Cavs all responded in different ways. Mo Williams spoke to reporters, the only effective thing he did in the series. LeBron James walked off the floor without speaking to the Magic and left the arena without speaking to anyone. And Ben Wallace was talking about walking away permanently.

Wallace told ESPN that there was a "strong possibility this was (his) last season."

ORLANDO -- Cavs star LeBron James wasn't about to let Magic coach Stan Van Gundy off the hook over comments he made regarding teammate Ben Wallace.

Van Gundy essentially called Wallace a flopper on Monday, saying "he and Mo Williams were falling down more than a baby learning to walk.''

While Wallace reacted with a string of expletives Tuesday morning after the Cavs workout, James took the time just an hour before Game 4 on Tuesday to chastise Van Gundy.

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FanHouse previews every round of the NBA Playoffs.

For all of the Cavaliers' success this year -- both posting the league's best record and winning their first eight games of the playoffs -- the Magic have actually held their own in head-to-head matchups, winning two of three games in the regular season and seven of 10 the last three years.

Much like your 401k, though, past results do not guarantee future performance, but at least the Magic won't come into this series questioning whether they have what it takes to win a single game against the vaunted Cavs, which was exactly the situation the dysfunctional Pistons and the injury-depleted Hawks faced in the first and second rounds, respectively.

A funny thing happened on the way to the game on Sunday. I left my house intending to go to the Palace of Auburn Hills, and I swear I even remember driving down I-75, exiting at Lapeer Rd. and pulling into the same parking lot I've entered dozens of times this year. Except, well, somewhere along the way, I must have took a wrong turn -- and ended up at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

At least, I think that's what happened, because make no mistake, the Cavaliers played a home game as they clinched their first-round series with the Pistons, complete with "M-V-P" chants every time LeBron James took a free throw and loud boos when the Pistons tried to rally late. "It was a little bit amazing, to be honest," said Mo Williams after the game. "Coming out to warm up, you hear all those Cavs fans there and it was kind of a joke going around the locker room, 'Hey man, we're at the Q!' ... I mean, I've never experienced something like that in my life."

For the first time in seven years, the Pistons will not make an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals -- and it's only fitting that Ben Wallace was present to witness the dismantling. He was the foundation of Detroit's first four appearances, the face of the franchise up until the moment he left as a free agent three summers ago before ultimately landing with the Cavaliers at the 2007 trade deadline.

Even though a lot of Detroit fans haven't forgiven him for leaving, he clearly enjoys coming back. After seeing him roam the hallways behind the scenes this weekend, I can understand why: he's still greeted warmly by former teammates, locker room attendants, Pistons front office staff and even members of Detroit's media. It may be easy for jilted fans to switch allegiances on a dime, but as explained this weekend, the bonds he formed during six long years in Detroit will always be there.

It's funny how the timing works out. Ben Wallace hasn't played for the Cavs since Feb. 26 due to a broken right leg, and Anderson Varejao missed Cleveland's last game with a banged up wrist. The Cavs finally had the entire team back on the practice court on Tuesday ... but learned today that rookie J.J. Hickson will miss the next two to three weeks with a sore back.

Truth be told, losing Hickson is hardly a huge blow for the Cavs -- he's barely played of late, and with both Wallace and Varejao available, he wasn't going to play much going forward -- but it's still horrible timing on the eve of the playoffs.

Dwight Howard is on the verge of making history and no one seems to notice. He's averaging 2.9 blocks and 14.0 rebounds a game, putting him on pace to become not only the youngest player to lead the league in blocked shots (beating out Marcus Camby by nearly a year) but also only the fifth player in NBA history to lead the league in blocks and rebounds in the same season.

The Cavs weren't happy the first time Mo Williams was left off the All-Star team, but now that he's been passed over twice (Boston's Ray Allen was named Jameer Nelson's injury replacement), they're so mad they're speaking in tongues. Or something.