National Basketball Association

Shaq won't be of much help to Cavs

Published Jun. 25, 2009 4:05 p.m. ET

foxsports

Shaquille O'Neal is heading to Cleveland because the Suns agreed to trade him to the Cavs, according to multiple reports. This will produce only limited benefits for the Cavs. That's because:

Shaq will be 38 before next season's playoffs.

Shaq is injury-prone.

He credits the training staff of the Suns for judiciously analyzing certain muscle weaknesses, and then designing (and supervising) an exercise program to address them, enabling last season to be his healthiest since 2004-05. Who would oversee these procedures in Cleveland?

Although he'd be able to outmuscle Dwight Howard, Shaq is otherwise a poor defender because of his extremely limited lateral movement.

Slower than ever off his feet, Shaq is likewise a poor rebounder and shot-blocker.

Because of his miserable career performances at the stripe, the ball would have to be kept away from Shaq in clutch situations.

He would be (and is) all but useless in defending high screen/rolls.

As he gets slower afoot and more and more floor-bound, he'll be in ever-increasing foul trouble.

With Shaq clogging the paint, there'd be precious little room for LeBron James' powerhouse drives. In fact, the presence of Shaq would mostly limit LBJ's offense to the most inefficient aspect of his game: his jump-shooting.

Also, if Shaq is such a desirable player, why did Miami trade him 16 months ago, and why did Phoenix agree to deal him now?