CLEVELAND - In a way, I've been there and covered that with the Shaquille O'Neal acquisition. It worked then. I think it has a great chance to work now.
Before the 1982-83 season, the Philadelphia 76ers signed Moses Malone, the Houston Rockets' center, to an "offer sheet" as a restricted free agent. Then, when Houston drew out the negotiating process, they gave the Rockets Caldwell Jones, the rail-thin starting center/power forward on a team that had reached the NBA Finals three times, yet never won.
There was a lot of smugness in archrival Boston, about the halfcourt offenses Malone was accustomed to, about how he would slow down the Sixers' fast break and clog up the driving lanes for Julius Erving, who was past his prime, but still a very dangerous player.
But Malone hadn't won a ring either. He was also the reigning Most Valuable Player of the NBA. He turned out to be willing to do anything the team asked him to win. The Sixers ran off a 65-17 season, one game worse than last season's Cavaliers' record. They went 12-1 in the playoffs, considerably better than last season's Cavs. They won it all. Moses was the MVP again.
The memory persists of Malone driving from halfcourt, going behind his back on the dribble along the way, to lead a comeback victory in the playoffs over Hubie Brown's Knicks. The move might have even bettered Shaq's Jabbawockeez dance at the All-Star Game.
Shaq is 37 years old. Erving was 32 when his championship season began. He was the third option then, behind Malone and Andrew Toney. Shaq will be down the line too, behind LeBron James and maybe Mo Williams. But centers can play to an older age because, with all the outlet-passing they do, they run less than players at other positions.
Also, even though the Sixers won everything -- it helped that the Lakers were without Bob McAdoo, James Worthy and Norm Nixon in the Finals -- that team had no one remotely like LeBron on the roster. James now, like Malone then, is the reigning league MVP.
The Cavs are a much better team today than they were last night, and all for Sasha Pavlovic, who was so inconsistent even his good games never excited you because you knew they were teases, and Ben Wallace, who ought to retire. Plus, a mid-second round draft pick.
Phoenix General Manager Steve Kerr and Cavs GM Danny Ferry were close friends when they were bench-warmers here and in San Antonio. The relationship certainly paid off in this deal.
The Cavs clearly needed somebody to play Kevin Garnett when he returns to the Celtics next year, to play Dwight Howard without committing so much double team help to the job, and to match up with the Lakers' size.
I don't know how much is left in Shaq's tank, but he averaged 17.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 30 minutes last season, plus he shot 59.5 percent at the foul line, the second-best of his career.
Yes, he played in a much more fast-paced attack in Phoenix, especially after Alvin Gentry took over as coach and loosened the reins. But that also means he did not bog things down as much as critics feared. He played slightly more minutes and his stats were better than those of Zydrunas Ilgauskas last season in all the categories I listed earlier, except foul shooting.
Shaq also takes up a lot of space on defense, which matters. He has the size to be a true enforcer when he chooses to be.
More important, Shaq knows how to win, and he wants a fifth ring badly. That separates him from Malone, the epitome of hustle ("a 7-foot Pete Rose," a Sixers executive called him the day the offer sheet was tendered), who got too self-satisfied after the one ring.
Shaq's a rent-a-star on a one-year deal. But in his prime, he was the most physical low-post player ever. He's a legitimate top 50 player of all-time, and was so honored by the NBA. LeBron would be on that list for sure if they made it now.
It's going to be an incredibly exciting season. The Cavs didn't give up a whole lot -- much less than the Sixers in Caldwell Jones. No way Shaq will be MVP at this stage, as Malone was in 1982-83. But if the Cavs get the same collective result as Philadelphia did, no one will care.
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