The Cavs bought Emir Preldzic from the Suns on draft night. The 21-year old small forward is a typical soft European player. He played in 156 games in five seasons in Europe and he averaged 8.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Don’t expect him to make much of a impact for a long time….if at all.

The Cavaliers got themselves a solid player in Daniel Green. Green checks his ego at the door and brings his lunch pail which should really play well with the Cavs. 22-year old Green played in 145 games in four seasons at North Carolina and he averaged 9.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocked shots per game. Green might never be a starter in Cleveland but he will contribute off the bench with defense and effort. A nice pick by the Cavs.

The Cavaliers had a major reach here in selecting 20-year old shooting guard Christian Eyenga with the 30th pick in the NBA Draft. Eyenga is from the basketball hotbed of the Congo in Africa. He played in 25 games in Spain last season and he averaged 13.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Eyenga is pretty raw but he has great athletic ability so he will have a chance to develop into something for the Cavs down the road. Still, they should have taken either Sam Young or DeJuan Blair from Pitt with this pick.

The Cavs have acquired 37-year old center Shaquille O’Neal from the Suns in return for 25-year old SG Sasha Pavlovic, 34-year old PF/C Ben Wallace, a pick in the 2010 NBA Draft tonight (2nd round, top 40 protected) and $500,000 bucks. Shaq will immediately give the Cavs the force they need in the middle to deal with players like Dwight Howard. Shaq played in 75 games (all starts) for the Suns last season and he averaged 30.0 minutes, 17.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. Having LeBron James on his team should reinvigorate O’Neal who hungers to win another championship. O’Neal has now played in 1,117 games (1,108 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 35.7 minutes, 24.7 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.3 blocked shots per game. O’Neal’s arrival probably ends the Cavs’ career of Zydrunas Ilgauskas who will go down as one of the best players in Cavs’ history.

Sasha Pavlovic really irked the Cavs after holding out a couple of seasons ago. He is a talented open court type of player so he could fit right in with the Suns. He played in 66 games (12 starts) for the Cavaliers last season and he averaged 16.0 minutes, 4.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Ben Wallace is near the end of his career. He played in 56 games (53 starts) for the Cavs last season and he averaged 23.5 minutes, 2.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game. The Cavs won’t miss the money or the 2nd round pick they threw in to get this deal done. Adding Shaq was just what the doctor ordered for the Cavaliers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have five players who could be unrestricted free agents. Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak and Lorenzen Wright are already free agents and Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao both have options to stay or leave. Starting center Ilgauskas has a early termination option which he could use to leave Cleveland. But, with the economy the way it is right now Big Z would be smart to stay put for another year in Cleveland. Ilgauskas played in 65 games (all starts) last season and he averaged 27.2 minutes, 12.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.3 blocked shots per game. If Z leaves the Cavs will have a big hole in the middle. Anderson Varejao really stepped up last season when Ben Wallace went down to injury. He could start for a lot of teams in the NBA and he could possibly decline his player option for next season. “Wild Thing” played in 81 games (42 starts) for the Cavs last season and he averaged 28.5 minutes, 8.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Veteran forward Joe Smith played well after the Cavs brought him back last season. The Cavs could bring Smith back if the price is right as he still has some game left. The Cavaliers will likely let G/F Wally Szczerbiak leave as a free agent. He played in 74 games (5 starts) last season for the Cavs and he averaged 20.6 minutes, 7.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. His main asset was his three point shooting (41.1%) but the Cavs could replace him with a cheaper model. Center Lorenzen Wright is most likely a goner. He played in only 17 games (2 starts) for the Cavs last season and he averaged 7.4 minutes, 1.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.