“I was cursing and screaming and trying to make them shoot me up,” explained O’Neal, “but they wouldn’t do it.”

For fantasy basketball owners, they’ll be happy to learn that O’Neal plans to return on Wednesday against the Detroit Pistons. On the season, the Big Clevelander is averaging 11.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 blocks. He’s hitting 53.2% of his field goals but only 47.4% of his free throws.

Even though his free throw percentage limits his fantasy basketball value, the good news is that O’Neal has cut down on his turnovers — averaging a career-low 1.4 per game.

As the season goes along, expect Shaq to become a bigger part of the Cavs attack. He probably won’t average more than 14 or 15 points but expect him to remain efficient everywhere except for at the free throw line.

Shaquille O'Neal will return from injury soon (Image: Zuma Press)

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As for the fantasy basketball world, this news doesn’t change much. If anything, it might be good news. With the Cavs facing a lot of pressure to win and keep LeBron happy, they will spend to put good players around him. With that in mind, LeBron should continue to have enough talent around him to continue to be a fantasy basketball force.

This summer, the big news for Cleveland was the addition of Shaquille O’Neal. While Shaq clogs the lane, he’s proven to help perimeter players — just ask Penny Hardaway, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade.

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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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Could Shaq and Dirk become teammates? (Image: Newscom)

At age 37, O’Neal is having one of his best seasons of the last half decade. In 30.4 minutes per game, O’Neal is averaging 18 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. He’s also shooting a career-high from both the field (61.2%) and his highest free throw percentage (60.5%) since the 2002-03 season.

Since losing against O’Neal and the Miami Heat in the 2006 NBA Finals, the Mavs have fallen a long ways. Currently, they are the eighth seed in the Western Conference and are on a path that will lead them to a loss against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.

If they trade for O’Neal in the offseason, the Mavs would get the dominant interior player they’ve always lacked. The two-man tandem of O’Neal and Dirk Nowitzki would be very difficult for any team to defend.

For fantasy basketball purposes, it’d be risky to bank on O’Neal next season. He’s at an age where his skills will likely start declining and on top of that, he hasn’t been a very durable regular season player in recent history. In fantasy leagues that count free throw percentage and turnovers, O’Neal could actually hurt more than help your team.

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With Amare Stoudemire out with an eye injury, it’s not too surprising that Shaq is more involved in the offense. He no longer has to share touches with Stoudemire down low and will be more involved in the pick-and-roll attack.

That said, don’t expect this type of outburst too often from Shaq. He was going up against the dreadful Raptors defense and was just too big and too strong for the Raptors to handle. Against most teams, Shaq doesn’t have much of a chance to score 30 points – much less 45 points.

Overall, Shaq’s fantasy basketball value is on the rise. If you can live with his free throw percentage and his turnovers, he’s a good player to have on your fantasy team. Here’s the Shaq video of him scoring 45 points against the Raptors:

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Shaquille O’Neal, Phoenix Suns
Even though Shaquille O’Neal isn’t quite as spry as he was when he was younger, he still gets to the line a whole lot. And Shaq is still Shaq as far as his pitiful free throw percentage. The only good news is that he’s shooting the best he has from the line since the 2002-03 season.

Andris Biedrins, Golden State Warriors
Andris Biedrins gets to the free throw line about five times per game. This season, he’s shooting about 60% from the line — which is actually an improvement for him. But that number is still low enough to do series damage.

Emeka Okafor, Charlotte Bobcats
The only reason Emeka Okafor isn’t in Howard’s or O’Neal’s company when it comes to his destructive nature at the free throw line is that he doesn’t get there that often. But when Okafor is at the line, you can count on a miss.

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While Stuckey was able to continue to play, his season so far hasn’t been as great as expected. Many NBA experts expected him to make a big jump in his second season in the league. That simply hasn’t happened yet.

Compared to his rookie season, his stats are up just a little bit. Most fantasy owners are probably looking elsewhere for production, even if they invested a draft pick in Stuckey.

Is there hope for Stuckey’s stats to improve? What Stuckey needs more than anything is a boost in minutes played. One way for that to happen is if he takes over the starting point guard job for the Detroit Pistons. In that scenario, Allen Iverson would move to shooting guard and Richard Hamilton would come off the bench. That makes sense for the Pistons but it’s doubtful that Hamilton would like a move that would make him a reserve.

If Stuckey remains a bench player, he’s going to remain a borderline fantasy basketball option. He’d only really become valuable if an injury were to strike Iverson or Hamilton.

Here is the video of Rodney Stuckey getting slammed to the floor by Shaq:

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The result was a double thumbs up from Popovich and everyone on the floor and both benches laughing. You can see a video of the funny Hack-a-Shaq at the end of this entry.

While this funny business didn’t have much affect on the game, the Hack-a-Shaq strategy is not good for fantasy basketball owners. If you are in a league that counts free throw percentage, you certainly don’t want Shaq going to the line repeatedly. Any extra points would be negated by the mass amount of free throw misses.

In many fantasy basketball formats, Shaq can hurt more than he can help. If more NBA teams start employing Hack-a-Shaq, that will lower Shaq’s value even further. Keep an eye out to see if this is just a tactic the Spurs will use against the Suns or whether the rest of the NBA will copy it.

Here is the funny Hack-a-Shaq video featuring Shaquille O’Neal and Gregg Popovich:

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According to the description, this Shaq video was filmed at one of his rap music video shoots. I’m not sure if Wee-Man had a death wish but thankfully he came out seemingly unharmed.

Here is the Wee-Man video of him picking up Shaq:

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Shaquille O’Neal has announced that he will retire in two years after his current contract is complete. While this isn’t an unexpected turn of events, it is the first time that Shaq has laid out a timeline for his exit from the NBA.

O’Neal, who was traded from the Miami Heat to the Phoenix Suns last season, will return to the Suns and once again start for the team at center. With a new coach in Terry Porter, it will be interesting to see how he is used.

Fantasy basketball wise, Shaq isn’t too valuable. His low free throw percentage and high turnovers make him a liability in most fantasy basketball formats. Don’t expect his numbers to go up much from last year — in fact his numbers will likely drop a little bit more. The Suns will likely limit Shaq’s minutes over the next two years to keep him fresh for the playoffs.

Last season, Shaquille O’Neal averaged 12.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 28.7 minutes per game while with the Phoenix Suns.

Photo: Newscom

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