Don't expect much of a slowdown with free agency this week, but there will be plenty of NBA executives out of their offices for the next several days.
Many NBA teams will have front-office personnel in Akron, Ohio, where the LeBron James Skills Academy got underway on Sunday afternoon. Getting most of the attention is certain to be point guard John Wall, who could be the No. 1 overall selection in the 2010 NBA draft.
However, Wall wasn't present for Sunday's mid-afternoon start to the camp.
Years ago, this would have constituted franchise suicide. Years ago, when Ron Artest was attacking fans and and facing spousal-abuse charges and firing obscene gestures and qualifying as the NBA's scariest menace to society, you wouldn't wish him upon your most despised team. But even the unhinged grow up eventually, which is why I dare say the Los Angeles Lakers have made a monumental statement in signing the sort-of-reformed problem child.
The Cavaliers traded for Shaquille O'Neal a week ago, but his introductory press conference didn't happen until Thursday afternoon. And for the most part, it was worth the wait. As we've come to expect when Shaq gets in front of a microphone, there were plenty of interesting and entertaining quotes that came out of his first meeting with the Cleveland media.
Shaq kicked things off by flashing the picture to your right, claiming that when he received the initial call from Cavs' GM Danny Ferry, he had to Google him, and when he did, this was the one of the first things to pop up.
Nice way to break the ice, Big Fella. Here are some more highlights from Shaq's first official day as a Cavalier.
As if Cleveland wasn't already a focal point of the NBA universe, it may be reaching a whole new level of crazy. A brand of crazy NBA fans only know as ... Ron Artest.
The Cleveland Plain Dealerwas the first to report on the possibility, but even coming from super-reliable Brian Windhorst, it was still just your run of the mill free agency rumor; a possibility to keep an eye on.
That was until Artest decided to fan the flames a bit by informing the world that his days in Houston were over -- via his Twitter page, naturally.
Stephon Marbury is one of those weird characters who has just the right mix of "crazy" and "keepin' it real" where you can't ever be sure whether to trust or distrust him. Personally, I think he's a bad apple who keeps getting too many chances, but some people feel differently.
After Marbury recently did a Knickerbocker-beat-down of an interview with the New York Post, I would imagine no one who plays professional basketball in the Big Apple is much of a fan either. Marbury's quotes are full of disparaging remarks, as he essentially urged any free agents to avoid Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni like the plague.
The Cavaliers are going all out to try to win a championship next season, before LeBron James can even think about becoming an unrestricted free agent in the magical, mystical summer of 2010. They've already traded for Shaquille O'Neal, and are rumored to have interest in the services of the recently freed Charlie Villanueva.
The team's heavy activity this summer would lead you to believe that minutes on the court will be in short supply for Anderson Varejao in the coming season. And that might be a big reason why he opted out of a contract which would have paid him $6.2M, when it's pretty unlikely that any team would offer him much more than that once he hit the open market.
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 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.
Shaquille O'Neal going to the Cavaliers to play alongside LeBron James seems like a positive way for the future Hall-of-Famer to finish out his career, right? Well, it seems that Shaq himself is a little bit conflicted about it emotionally, as evidenced by the following video he tweeted to his many followers after the deal became official on Thursday afternoon.
Editor's Note: This column has been updated from Thursday's original version.
He's accustomed to the NBA's sunniest and most extravagant addresses, from Disney World to Hollywood to South Beach to the Arizona desert. Ontario Street in downtown Cleveland? Put it this way: Shaquille O'Neal will have to buy a thick winter coat, assume a less gaudy nickname (The Big Smokestack?) and watch courtside celebrities such as Jack Nicholson and Ludacris suddenly morph into Drew Carey.
But there's nothing ludicrous about this new development in his fascinating journey through basketball and life. Shaq is intelligent enough to realize, at 37, that even one season with the Cavaliers could have a profound impact on his legacy -- and that of LeBron James. If Shaq wins his fifth NBA championship in a town that hasn't won a title in a major sport since 1964, and he succeeds in keeping an ambitious native son in his native northeast Ohio, his work will be done.
Don't expect much of a slowdown with free agency this week, but there will be plenty of NBA executives out of their offices for the next several days.
The Cavaliers traded for Shaquille O'Neal a week ago, but his introductory press conference didn't happen until Thursday afternoon. And for the most part, it was worth the wait. As we've come to expect when Shaq gets in front of a microphone, there were plenty of interesting and entertaining quotes that came out of his first meeting with the Cleveland media.
As if Cleveland wasn't already a focal point of the NBA universe, it may be reaching a whole new level of crazy. A brand of crazy NBA fans only know as ... Ron Artest. 
Stephon Marbury is one of those weird characters who has just the right mix of "crazy" and "keepin' it real" where you can't ever be sure whether to trust or distrust him. Personally, I think he's a bad apple who keeps getting too many chances, but some people feel differently.
The Cavaliers are going all out to try to win a championship next season, before LeBron James can even think about becoming an unrestricted free agent in the magical, mystical summer of 2010. They've already traded for Shaquille O'Neal, and are rumored to have interest in the services of the recently freed Charlie Villanueva.
OK, sure, stacking Josh Howard, Jason Terry and former MVP Dirk Nowitzki around him was no more successful than surrounding him with Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson, but you know what they say: 18th time's the charm. 
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.
Shaquille O'Neal going to the Cavaliers to play alongside LeBron James seems like a positive way for the future Hall-of-Famer to finish out his career, right? Well, it seems that Shaq himself is a little bit conflicted about it emotionally, as evidenced by the following video he tweeted to his many followers after the deal became official on Thursday afternoon.
Editor's Note: This column has been updated from Thursday's original version.
