If you thought the Cleveland Cavaliers were putting all of their eggs in one basket in relying on Shaquille O'Neal, and only Shaquille O'Neal, to act as LeBron James' Robin in their quest for an elusive NBA title, you thought wrong.
Unfortunately for you and the team you support, the squad with basketball's best record (43-11 going into Thursday, not to mention the current owners of a 13-game wining streak) just got a little bit better. And by a little bit, I mean a lot.
On Wednesday night, sources reported that the Cavaliers had acquired veteran big man Antawn Jamison from Washington in a three-team trade involving the Wizards and Clippers.
The deal that has officially become the biggest swap leading up to Thursday's trade deadline also saw Al Thornton, Brian Skinner, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and a Cavs first-round pick go to Washington, Drew Gooden to Los Angeles, but most importantly ANTAWN JAMISON TO CLEVELAND (which also managed to pluck up speedy point guard Sebastian Telfair in the trade)!
If you weren't scared of the Cavaliers before Wednesday's trade, there's no shame in wetting your pants where you stand right now (yes, I'm talking to you, Boston fans).
On paper, the name Antawn Jamison may not conjure up feelings of intimidation, and nor should they. Having almost always played the role of second fiddle—save his first few years with Golden State—Jamison is as Scottie Pippen-esque as they come in that while he will never hog the spotlight, he certainly doesn't mind sharing it.
This season Jamison is averaging a robust 20.5 points per game to complement his 8.8 rebounds per game, and considering that he was on the floor with the shot-happy Gilbert Arenas (pre-gun jokes) and Caron Butler for the majority of the season, his numbers aren't too shabby.
The former North Carolina Tar Heel is shooting a commendable 45 percent from the field and, despite his position of power forward, is never afraid to dial up from long distance having already made 58 three-pointers this season. All of these numbers and intangible qualities are what make Jamison the perfect fit at the Q.
In the days leading up to Wednesday's blockbuster, the buzz around the league was that the Cavs were the frontrunners to win the Amar'e Stoudemire sweepstakes, as a trade with Phoenix for the versatile big man appeared to be imminent.
Cleveland and its faithful fans should be thankful that general manager Danny Ferry never pulled the trigger.
As some of you will recall, Stoudemire and O'Neal were teammates for a year and a half in Phoenix not too long ago, and as most of you who recalled that first part will also recall the experimental tandem's stint down low, failing faster than Tiger at a loyalty contest.
To reunite the two future hall-of-fame giants in Cleveland only would have hurt the Cavaliers, and surely would have had Celtics fans licking their chops for a showdown with their exacerbated foes.
But Ferry didn't, and instead turned to Jamison in what could very well prove to be the move of the year.
Two years ago, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, anxious to provide his Lakers with the best weapons in the league to win the Finals, supplied Kobe Bryant with a late Christmas present when he acquired power-forward Pau Gasol from Memphis.
He proved to be the missing piece, as Los Angeles took the Western Conference by storm and rode Bryant and Gasol's coattails all the way to the Finals, where they were eventually ousted by the Celtics (thanks to great defense from Sasha Vujacic—and was he really crying on the bench after that play?).
However, a full year together made all the difference for the best player in basketball and his Spanish companion, as the Lakers made it back to the Finals the next season and this time defeated the Magic in five games to capture the championship.
Antawn Jamison may not be quite as good as Pau Gasol, but he may prove to be just as, if not more, valuable. However, he won't have quite the same time table as the Spanish international.
With O'Neal dwindling faster than Luke Wilson's career, and James set to become a free agent at the end of the season, the next four-and-a-half months may prove to be the only chance this new triumvirate has to bring a championship to Cleveland. It is the league's worst kept secret, of course, that if the Cavs fail to win a championship this season, LBJ will almost definitely go in search of greener pastures this summer (cough—New York!).
It almost goes without saying, but time is undoubtedly of the essence for this team, and seeing as how LeBron is the almighty King James, and O'Neal was once a genie in Kazaam, it seems all too appropriate that the missing talismanic element inevitably would be a Wizard.