We're at the point where casual fans fail to recognize the remaining names on the free-agency list. There are a few diamonds in the rough, though. Jamario Moon is one of the few remaining gems. Or at least shiny pebbles.
And the Cavs think he would look gold next to their two giant hunks of rock.
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.
You know what they say about the rumors: they're always true. And that's exactly the case with the talk of Shaquille O'Neal going to the Cavaliers to play alongside LeBron James. Yahoo! is reporting that it's a done deal, and that the Suns will receive Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, the 46th pick in Thursday's draft, and of course, some cash on the side.
The Orlando Magic already finished two rounds of playoffs on the road, clinching the first in Philadelphia and the second in Boston.
They better do this one at home.
The Magic take a 3-2 lead into Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final Saturday night at Amway Arena against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, well aware that they might be pushing their road luck if they are forced into a return to Cleveland for Game 7.
"We don't want to go back and play in their arena again,'' said Magic forward Rashard Lewis. "They feed off that crowd there.''
CLEVELAND -- That would be for Michael Jordan. And for Earnest Byner. And for John Elway. And for Jose Mesa. And for all the years of pain and woe and throbbing heartbreak. A second earlier, all 20,000 fans had been standing in numb horror, feeling the familiar sickness in the stomach as another double-digit lead had drained into something more hideous than Craig Sager's wardrobe.
Why did Sports Illustrated put LeBron James on the cover and jinx the Cavaliers? Why did Charles Barkley describe Cleveland as "the mistake on the lake" and "a dreary ass city" recently? Why were the sporting gods so cruel? Why is the world so mean? Why would the The Shot and The Fumble and The Drive be followed by The Hedo Shuffle, courtesy of Hedo Turkoglu, who just the night before had been out fairly late in a downtown bar?
Cavaliers 96, Magic 95: Recap | Box Score Series Tied 1-1 | Next Game: Sunday @ Orlando, 8:30 PM ET
The Cavaliers have successfully made the jump from "very good" to "elite" by absolutely destroying opponents on both sides of the ball. They've defied logic by proving that stingy defense and dominant offense can go hand in hand, allowing the fewest points in the league (90.4) while scoring the second-most (104.0). This isn't just a legitimate championship contender, folks; if they keep this up, it will go down as one of the best seasons of all-time.
But while the team has caught all the breaks so far, their depth will be tested in the short-term. Sixth-man Daniel Gibson sprained a toe last night and will rest for the next two weeks, at which point he'll be re-evaluated. Can the Cavs keep chugging along?
Considering their average point difference is +13.6 points, it stands to reason they can lose a guy averaging just 9.4 points a night without too much concern. Not to pile on, but Cavs might actually be better for it. Gibson has started to turn things around the last few games, but on the season he's shooting just .402, including .310 from beyond the arc. Statistically speaking, letting a combination of Sasha Pavlovic (.415 / .389), Delonte West (.472 / .411) and Wally Szczerbiak (.480 / .349) absorb Gibson's 24.3 minutes a game should make the Cavs even more efficient, especially when you factor his non-existent defense.
Whenever the mood strikes, FanHouse will break down the current leaders in the race for league MVP. Ground rules: injuries matter, and so do recent events.
1. LeBron James: Not only has LeBron dominated in two meetings over the player holding down the two spot in these rankings, but he's now dragging his bench to victory on a nightly basis. The Cavs are without -- get this -- Drew Gooden, Anderson Varejao, Sasha Pavlovic, and now Daniel Gibson, who combined have a scoring average of about 37 a night. They're being replaced by the likes of Ira Newble, who sounds like he should be LeBron's tax man, not his starting power forward. Even with all of these players missing, the Cavs are 16-6 over their last 22 games, and it's all thanks to LeBron.
2. Kobe Bryant: His scoring is down a little this year because Kobe's modified his style a bit for the team's greater good: and it's working. Before Andrew Bynum went down, the Lakers were among the league's top teams. With Kobe getting his teammates involved like never before (seriously ... Sasha Vujacic is good all of a sudden?), he may be more deserving then ever of his first MVP, even with the lower scoring average. And with the addition of Pau Gasol, that should only help Kobe's chances because the Lakers will likely be playing deep into the post-season.
The Cavaliers will make an annoucement [sic] today that Larry Hughes is expected to miss about a month with a bone bruise in his left leg. It stems from the collision he had with Leandro Barbosa on Nov. 3. He missed three games after it but when he came back he was limping and obviously not playing well. He went just 2-of-12 against the Orlando Magic Wednesday and left the game limping. In Los Angeles in his first game back, he sat out the fourth quarter limping.
It's unfortunate, sure, but it's also quite predictable: Hughes has played in more than 70 games in a season just once, and that was six years ago. Since joining the Cavs, he's appeared in just 64% of the team's regular-season games, which wouldn't be that big of a deal if only the Cavs were allowed to pay him 64% of his i$12 million annual salary. In Hughes' place, Sasha Pavlovic will join second-year point guard Daniel Gibson in Cleveland's starting backcourt.
On the eve of the regular season, Sasha Pavlovic finally signed a three-year deal to remain with the Cavaliers. A restricted free agent, Pavlovic had previously scoffed at Cleveland's qualifying offer of $2.8 million, suggesting he might even play in Europe if the Cavs don't up the offer.
Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon Journal cites sources who report Pavlovic signed a three-year deal worth somewhere between $12-15 million. I'm guessing the annual salary isn't quite what Pavlovic had wanted, but the relatively short contract which will allow Pavlovic to chase bigger dollars in the not-so-distant future was probably a concession made by Cleveland.
So when will be ready to suit up? Well, first he has to get back to the states -- ESPN's Chad Ford reports that Pavlovic was still in Serbia earlier today. Once he arrives and passes his physical, I'm guessing the team will still want to run him through at least a couple of practices before they throw him out on the court, which means that he may miss the first handful of games. Conditioning, though, isn't expected to be an issue, as his agent Marc Cornstein told Ford that Pavlovic has been working out twice a day.
Getting Pavlovic back in the fold is nice, but getting restricted free agent Anderson Varejao signed would be even better. Without Varejao, the Cavs are lacking experienced big men on their bench. The Cavs had reportedly offered Varejao $20 million over four years earlier in the year, but he was seeking double that -- it'll take a lot of blinking on both sides of the bargaining table for the two sides to find an agreeable common ground, and Ford reports that talks haven't been very active of late. Until they get both of their restricted free agents back in the fold, it's hard to take the Cavs seriously as a contender.
Considering Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic are restricted free agents, you'd think that they'd be the ones feeling like their hands are tied right about now. Instead, it seems like Danny Ferry is the one whose negotiating position is eroding. Not only have the Cavs gone 1-4 in the preseason, but LeBron James is now starting to put public pressure on the front office. From the Akron Beacon Journal's Brian Windhorst:
Q: How do you balance in the short term of getting them signed versus the long-term value of keeping flexibility like the franchise is saying?
A: That's not my job to worry about. For me as a leader, you want guys around you that are going to help you win ballgames. I'm going to do what is best for the team. But at the same time you see teams regrouping and reshaping, and with our team we didn't do any reshaping, we didn't do any regrouping. You start to think a bit, 'How are we going to continue to get better?' Something is going to have to happen within the next week so we know for certain whether we have them or not.
I'll paraphrase: "that's not my job to worry about it ... but then I look around at other teams and start to worry." This is the second summer in a row that the Cavs have essentially decided to stand pat. It worked for them last year -- they won two more playoff series than the year before -- but it completely backfired this summer. Varejao and Pavlovic aren't just random rotation filler, they represent a huge chunk of Cleveland's depth and have combined to start 47 games over the last two seasons.
We're at the point where casual fans fail to recognize the remaining names on the free-agency list. There are a few diamonds in the rough, though. Jamario Moon is one of the few remaining gems. Or at least shiny pebbles. 
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.
The Orlando Magic already finished two rounds of playoffs on the road, clinching the first in Philadelphia and the second in Boston.
The Cavaliers have successfully made the jump from "very good" to "elite" by absolutely destroying opponents on both sides of the ball. They've defied logic by proving that stingy defense and dominant offense can go hand in hand, allowing the fewest points in the league (90.4) while scoring the second-most (104.0). This isn't just a legitimate championship contender, folks; if they keep this up, it will go down as one of the best seasons of all-time.
Well, that didn't take long: Larry Hughes will miss a month with a bone bruise in his left leg. From Brian Windhorst's blog for the Akron Beacon Journal:
On the eve of the regular season, Sasha Pavlovic finally signed a three-year deal to remain with the Cavaliers. A restricted free agent, Pavlovic had previously scoffed at Cleveland's qualifying offer of $2.8 million, suggesting he might even play in Europe if the Cavs don't up the offer. 
Considering Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic are restricted free agents, you'd think that they'd be the ones feeling like their hands are tied right about now. Instead, it seems like Danny Ferry is the one whose negotiating position is eroding. Not only have the Cavs gone 1-4 in the preseason, but LeBron James is now starting to put public pressure on the front office. From the Akron Beacon Journal's Brian Windhorst:
