NBA superstars LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal became teammates when the Cleveland Cavaliers completed a blockbuster trade for O'Neal from the Phoenix Suns overnight.
The Cavaliers hope they are creating a basketball duo with the drawing power of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - or even Shaq and Kobe Bryant.
Each of those pairs won multiple NBA titles. The Cavaliers would settle for their first.
The Cavaliers are sending centre Ben Wallace and Serbian swingman Sasha Pavlovic to the Suns, along with a second-round pick in the 2010 draft and cash.
"It is a really unique and rare opportunity to bring in a player of Shaq's calibre. We are excited to see how his presence, experience and play positively impacts our team," Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry said.
O'Neal has won four championships during his 17-year career - three as member of the Los Angeles Lakers with Bryant and one in Miami with Dwyane Wade - and will now try to get yet another with James, the league's reigning MVP, who is missing only an NBA title from his personal resume.
The trade is a gamble for the Cavaliers. They are hoping that the 37-year-old O'Neal, who is past his prime and has one year and $US21 million ($A26.37 million) left on his contract, can be the missing piece that helps James deliver his first championship to a city that has waited since 1964 for one of its major sports teams to win it all.
For sheer star power, the O'Neal-James tandem rivals any on the American sports landscape. But it could also be a one-year gambit.
Ferry and Suns general manager Steve Kerr have been discussing the deal for months and finally reached a preliminary agreement early Thursday. The teams had to get league approval before the swap could be announced. They made the trade official in the afternoon.
James could have used Shaq during this year's playoffs. The Cavaliers' frontcourt of Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao couldn't contain Orlando centre Dwight Howard, and Cleveland lost in the Eastern Conference finals - a devastating blow for a team that won 66 games in the regular season and coasted through the first two playoff rounds without losing a game.
O'Neal is coming off an All-Star season with the Suns - averaging 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds in 75 games - but doesn't move as well as he once did and slowed Phoenix's high-powered offence. Still, the 2.16m, 148kg centre is large enough to take on a player like Howard by himself.
The Cavaliers' urgency to win a title is greater than ever with James entering his final season before he can opt out of his contract. The 24-year-old came up short this season and stormed off the floor after being eliminated in Orlando without shaking hands with any of the Magic players, including Howard, his US Olympic teammate.
Cleveland can offer James an extension this summer, but there's no guarantee the local star, who has always maintained he wants to stay in his home state, will sign it.
Bringing in O'Neal may soothe James' concerns that the Cavaliers wouldn't be able to get him enough help to make a run at numerous titles. Ferry still wants to re-sign Varejao this summer and may look to add another perimeter player through a trade or free agency.
The trade gives the Suns financial flexibility in the future. All told, they will save $US10 million ($A12.56 million).
CELEVLAND AP
