For both sides, this deal would make a lot of sense. For the Cavs, they desperately need to give LeBron James a running mate. Considering that Shaq is coming off of a very good season, he could still get the job done in the middle. At the worst, he’ll give the opponent another player to think about outside of LeBron.

For the Suns, Shaq doesn’t have much use to them. They need to rebuild and trading away Shaq can save money and open up playing time. The Suns owners don’t have endless pockets so if they can save millions of dollars, don’t look for them to pass up the opportunity.

In terms of fantasy basketball, Shaq probably would see his stats go down. He’ll be a year older and he will likely be getting fewer touches. Plus, like usual, his low free throw percentage and high turnover rate limit his fantasy value.

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C Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix Suns
With Shaquille O’Neal coming to town, Amare Stoudemire’s days at center are almost over. However, he was a center for almost the entire first half of the season and has been the best fantasy center in the game. Any fantasy basketball owner who took a chance on Stoudemire and his questionable healthy is ecstatic with how Stoudemire has played this season.

PF Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics
After being traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Celtics, Kevin Garnett entered the 2007-08 NBA campaign with a lot of expectation. Garnett, although he’s currently sidelined with an abdominal strain, has lived up to those expectations and the Celtics are playing better than most people thought possible.

SF Caron Butler, Washington Wizards
Gilbert Arenas hasn’t been able to play for much of the season. A lot of league pundits expected the Wizards to suffer greatly without Arenas. Luckily for Washington, Caron Butler has stepped up and his great play has kept the Wizards above water. Butler has been fantasy gold so far this year.

SG Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
Although Kobe Bryant isn’t scoring as many points as he has in the past, he’s arguably better than ever. He does a great job of getting his teammates involved and his fantasy basketball stats are very good across the board. He has proven to be worth his high draft position and is easily the best shooting guard in the fantasy world.

PG Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
Chris Paul is not only the best point guard in fantasy basketball, he’s arguably the best overall player in fantasy basketball. He’s been simply unreal this season and if you have him on your team, you are thanking your lucky stars. Going into the second half of the season, there’s no reason why Paul should slow down.

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The Suns, who got the pick from the Hawks in the Joe Johnson trade a few years ago, would look at Artest as a quality Shawn Marion replacement. While Artest is a highly volatile and erratic person on and off the court, he’s a quality basketball player when he’s not acting crazy.

In the fantasy basketball world, this trade would arguably be bigger than the Shaquille O’Neal trade. First of all, Ron Artest would find himself in the run and gun Suns system. Playing next to Steve Nash and Shaq, Artest would likely become an all-around force. His scoring would likely decline but everything else would likely go up.

For the Kings, that’d open up space for a player like John Salmons or Francisco Garcia. Both Salmons and Garcia played well at the beginning of the season but have been relegated to the bench since the team got healthy. If Salmons or Garcia became a starter again, they’re fantasy value would skyrocket.

While this rumor remains simply a rumor, you should be prepared for the fallout. If you see that the trade has gone through, you should go and pickup either Salmons or Garcia if they are available and hope to strike gold on the waiver wire.

Artest Dunking on Joakim Noah …

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