Diesel departs Phoenix, heads to Cleveland

PHOENIX - Shaquille O'Neal, who arrived in Phoenix with championship aspirations, will instead look for ring number five in Cleveland.

The Phoenix Suns acquired the contracts of center Ben Wallace and swingman Sasha Pavlovic, a future conditional second-round selection and cash considerations from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for 17-year-pro O'Neal.

Wallace and Pavlovic are expected to be bought out, saving the Suns upwards of $9 million of salary heading into the 2009-10 season.

Wallace joins his sixth NBA team following stints with the Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and Cleveland in his 13-year career. The 34 year old is a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006) with career averages of 6.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.16 blocks in 903 games. He is also a four-time All-Star and won a championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.

Pavlovic is a six-year pro with career averages of 5.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 381 games. He was originally drafted by the Utah Jazz with the 19th overall selection, but spent the last five seasons with Cleveland.

When the Suns swapped Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks for Shaq in February 2008, the team was 34-14 and leading the Western Conference. The team went 21-13 after the trade, but fell to the Spurs in five games of the first round of the playoffs.

O'Neal averaged 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.38 blocks in 103 games in a season-plus in the desert. An NBA All-Third Team Selection in 2009, O'Neal tallied 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds in 75 games last season while earning his 15th career NBA All-Star selection. He finished the season as the fifth-leading scorer in NBA history with 27,619 points. But, his effort was for naught, as the Suns won only 46 games and missed the playoffs. Thus, the Suns felt it best to move the 37-year-old O'Neal and his $20 million salary.

By sending O'Neal to Cleveland, Shaq will be joining a team that had the best record in basketball last season, only to fall short in the Eastern Conference Finals.