Pros And Cons Of Shaq-to-Bulls Scenario

There has been loads of speculation that Shaquille O'Neal is on his way out, with the Cavaliers and other teams (Dallas and New Orleans in particular) being mentioned as of late. For about three weeks now, rumors out of Phoenix have suggested the possibility that Shaq might end up in Chicago, and, while these rumors vary in the details, they all involve Shaq coming to Chicago and Luol Deng heading to Phoenix. Bright Side of the Sun is brimming with trade talk at the moment, as it should be, since the Suns are an aging team that is middling at best (like the Pistons are in the East). Mouthpiece Sports suggests that Phoenix gets the better end of the deal, but the verdict is far from a certainty. Therefore, I thought I'd throw in my two cents since the rumors refuse to go away.PROSShaq is still a physically dominant player. Few players in this league can handle his strength.Shaq is still a double-double machine, with a nice touch in the paint and the ability to back his way to the hole and finish.The Bulls are tied to Deng for 5 years, and, if he continues to get hurt every few weeks, he's going to eat up serious cap space for a long time. Shaq's massive contract only lasts one year, so we can dump him after the 09-10 season and have loads of money to work on getting Bosh, Wade, or others in the loaded 2010 free agent market.Shaq and Brad Miller could both act as mentors for the young bigs like Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas. Shaq could teach them some post moves, Miller can help them with their passing, and both couls show the youngsters how to crash the boards.If nothing else, Shaq keeps things interesting. He's always amusing in interviews, and we would get to give him a new nickname.CONSOur offense operates best at a fast pace, and Shaq is too slow to keep that fast pace. Shaq may have had a strong individual year, the Suns were pretty lousy last year, in part because they had to slow their traditionally lightning-quick offense down to Shaq's sluggishness.Hack-a-Shaq would be a nightmare. The last couple minutes of close games last forever with fouls and timeouts, and throwing Shaq's free throw ineptitude into the mix would add a whole new level of frustration (and could cost us in some of those games).Shaq's pretty old, and, as a result, his once feared defensive skills have diminished tremendously. Years of incredible abuse and people hanging off his arms as he hits the boards are catching up to him, and the Suns had to rest him a lot to keep him healthy and productive. Do the Bulls want to trade young Deng for Shaq the part-timer?Shaq is notoriously immature, picking verbal (and sometimes physical) fights with countless people over his long career. Shaq has punched Miller before, so chemistry is going to be an issue, as it has been for him nearly everywhere he's played.While Shaq's career is on the decline, Deng is still young, and he could recover from his injuries and be as productive as he was a couple seasons back, when many thought he would be a future all-star. Even though his contract looks ugly now, nobody seemed to think so back then, so it might be premature to give up on him now.With these five pros and five cons in mind, I still cannot decide if I like this trade. If I had to take a stand, I guess I would veto the trade and hope Deng returns to form and health, but unfortunately I am not confident that this will happen. I'd be interested to hear what anybody else thinks about this rumor, particularly because it hasn't stopped for nearly a month, which must mean there's at least some merit to it.(Side note: The MVN crew decided to cancel the mock draft, so I apologize for the three or four of you who were looking forward to that)