Over the last couple of months, we’ve focused much of our NBA attention on the three blockbuster trades that went down within a couple weeks of each other. We spoke highly of the Lakers’ trade theft of Pau Gasol, and expressed some doubts about the moves for Jason Kidd and Shaquille O’Neal. Well, it turns out those concerns were justified. Pau’s Lakers? Moving on. J-Kidd and the Big Cactus? Gone fishin’.

Remember when there were whispers about the Mavericks breaking the Chicago Bulls’ record for most wins in a season last year? All was well in Dallas; they had the MVP, a rising star in Josh Howard and the bitter taste of defeat from their loss in the 2006 NBA Finals. But after falling to the upstart Golden State Warriors, the Mavs’ earth has seemingly rotated off their axis.

A more experienced team like the Mavs should not have been ousted in five games by the Hornets. As good as New Orleans has been all year, you would expect Dallas to show up in the postseason because of what happened last year. Didn’t happen. And that trade for Kidd turned out to be a nightmare, as the future Hall of Famer was abused by Chris Paul in five straight games. After such a great 2006 season, the Mavs’ entire franchise now appears to be snake bitten. Where do they go from here? They have a guy in Dirk Nowitzki who still refuses to show up in big games. And now they’re without their future point guard in Devin Harris, now playing for the Nets. Mark Cuban has done some great things over the years, but he screwed the pooch this time.

The Suns knew that something had to change. They had found out that defense wins championships after getting shellacked by the Spurs in two of the last three postseasons. But even with two giants inside, the Suns had no answer for the Spurs, who still managed to fly under the radar before the series started. All of the focus was on Shaq’s Suns, but how about those Spurs? We know how good they are, we just always seem to forget it. With two aging players in Steve Nash and Shaq, the Suns’ window of opportunity appears to be closing. Hell, it already has for their head coach.

So much for that. The Mavs and Suns made these blockbuster deals looking towards glory in April, May and June. But all of that now appears to be thrown out the window. But hey, at least Pau worked out.

Tomorrow marks the end of the first week of basketball post-All Star game and, over the span of this past week, the Boston Celtics failed to record a win. 0-3. Heartbreaking losses to the Nuggets and Warriors along with a sloppy defeat at the hands of the Suns last night have given the Celtics their first three game skid of the 2007/2008 season and I’m beginning to question the strength of this team.

I understand Kevin Garnett has been hurt and he’s still not completely 100%. I get that. The Celtics problem the last three games, however, hasn’t been Garnett. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce shot a combined 5-25 last night. Not going to cut it. Garnett, meanwhile, got his with 19 points and 5 boards.

I don’t think my sentiment that the Pistons are a better team has rang any more true. This team is exactly what everyone thought they’d be, three players. Outside of the big three, the production simply isn’t good enough to consistently win games. So when teams shut down Pierce and Allen, the Celtics become one dimensional.

Boston still has the best record in the NBA, something that we can’t forget about. But as this season has wore on, this team has looked more and more beatable.

Tonight marks the official debut of Shaquille O’Neal in a Phoenix Suns jersey. In a media hyped acquisition that can only rival Sir Charles Barkley’s arrival in Phoenix, the Suns feel like O’Neal is the final piece of the puzzle. He brings a defensive and rebounding mentality to the Suns, something that the team has lacked all season, ranking last in team rebounding. That’ll improve with O’Neal who asserts that he’s not expecting to be the superstar on the Suns, instead leaving that duty to the likes of the Canuck at point guard and Amare Stoudemire.

So now the table is set for O’Neal’s triumphant debut against, wouldn’t you know it, Kobe Bryant and the new-look Los Angeles Lakers. I hearken back to the days when the young Bryant was throwing lobs to the unstoppable O’Neal and the Lakers were racking up titles like it was nobody’s business. Remember Reggie Miller’s Pacers? Bryant and Shaq did them dirty in six games. Or how about the Allen Iverson led 76ers? The Lakers polished them off in five. Then there was Jason Kidd’s Nets team that got punished in a four game sweep. Yeah, Kobe and Shaq were a mighty combo.

Then the fall out happened. ESPN jerked it to the fact that Kobe demanded an ultimatum of keeping either him or Shaq. Shaq went to Miami and won a ring while Kobe stayed in LA and took first round playoff exits. The feud is over between the two, “allegedly”, and now it seems the only people who care about it live in Bristol, Connecticut and work for ESPN.

Tonight’s game should be a great one, but not for the story line. Here’s a line to follow; the Suns have the best record in the West and the Lakers are a mere game behind them. So when you tune into tonight’s game, don’t tune in for the fabricated story line of Shaq returning to face the Lakers. Tune in because, with O’Neal and the Lakers acquisition of Pau Gasol, both teams feel as if they’ve taken the necessary step to win a title. It should be a doozy.

It seems like for the last day all I have heard about is how much worse off the Phoenix Suns will be now that they have acquired Shaquille O’Neal from the Miami Heat. Even our own Sportable writer Ryan doesn’t like the move. I absolutely understand where all the doubt and the judgment is coming from. The Suns tend to play a run and gun style of offense, a high tempo game that doesn’t appear to sit well with the Diesel’s style of play. But who is to say that there can’t be a role for Shaq in that system?

Why can’t Shaq be the one who grabs the rebound and starts the fast break? I can’t really remember the last time I have seen all five players on the court needed to run a fast break. Shaq just needs to grab the ball and fire it off to Nash or one of the other weapons that are still going to be there to get the break going. And if the Suns can’t get that break running then Shaq can just come rumbling down the court and dominate in the half court offense as we have seen him do in the past.

Beyond Shaq fitting in, there is of course the fact that he is old and his body cant necessarily take the wear and tear that it used to. This is where the way the NBA is set up really helps the Suns. To make the playoffs in the NBA you just have to be somewhat decent, there is no doubt that this Suns team is good enough to make the playoffs. That means they aren’t going to need Shaq to be contributing 40 minutes a night for the rest of the year. They are going to be able to use that time to let Shaq get healthy again and ease his way back into good shape by playing 20 or so minutes a game. Remember they still have Boris Diaw and Amare Stoudemire who can contribute and play the center position for a good amount of time to give Shaq the rest he needs to be geared up.

Finally, and perhaps the most important reason why I think that Shaq will succeed in Phoenix, is his will. When Shaq wants to do something, he is going to do it, its about as simple as that. I think the telling moment of that came during his press conference when he said something along the lines of, when I get angry things happen, things like winning a championship. This drew a laugh from the media members assembled, but I look at deeper than just a joke. Shaq really will be pissed by everyone saying this is the end of the line for him, and that he can’t hack it anymore, that the Suns made a mistake trading for him. He isn’t going to let that go lightly, he is going to want to win a championship, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him do exactly that.

While many of us were busy unwrapping gifts and spending time with family yesterday, the Los Angeles Lakers were busy handing the Phoenix Suns their second loss in as many match-ups this season. Kobe got his; scoring 38 points with seven assists and five rebounds on the afternoon. The real story, however, was young center Andrew Bynum who scored a career high 28 points and had 12 rebounds against the West’s best center, Amare Stoudemire.

How about the collection of people that ESPN had no shame showing us yesterday? Ice Cube was in the house; hell we even got to listen to him talk up the Lakers like he was their GM. Phil Jackson went away from the standard tie and wore a red bow tie that, with his emo black glasses, made him look more like the king of chicken than the boss of the Lakers sideline. And then there was David Arquette who was undoubtedly taking a break from making a shitty movie and paid for his courtside tickets with what was left from his compensation check from the Scream trilogy. And how about that jam that Trevor Ariza had yesterday? Grant Hill got a face full of crotch and was absolutely posterized by a dunk that was so incredible that it was like an extra Christmas present from Santa Ariza to all the viewers. Hey Grant, not even a jolt of Sprite was going to save you from that tea-bagging.

So where should we put this Lakers team when we start looking at the big picture in the West? At 18-10 they certainly are having a better year than most pundits, myself included, expected. Andrew Bynum’s development from last year to this year has been the equivalent of night and day and his developing dominance in the low post is reminding me more and more of another guy who used to play in the paint for the Lakers. Might the Lakers have found the second scorer Kobe had been bitching about in the off season without even making a move? This team has to show me they aren’t going to wear down like they have in years past but until then I’d say the Lakers are quickly becoming a contender again.

It’s safe to say those weren’t the right years Grant Hill had in mind when he was traded to the Orlando Magic way back in 2000. In fact, you can argue that only nine people have had worse stays in Orlando than Hill. But finally, the injury-plagued star is moving on. Hill is expected to sign a two year contract with the Phoenix Suns on July 11th, the first day that free agents can officially sign with new teams.

Hill, 34, also considered the Pistons, Heat, Mavs and Spurs but ultimately chose the Suns because of their ability to give him a meaningful role on the team and a chance at a championship.

“Obviously money wasn’t the biggest factor here,” said Hill’s agent, Lon Babby. “He had offers for a lot more money. Grant wants a chance to win a championship and he wanted to go to a place that would give him a chance to contribute. Phoenix was the perfect fit.”

With Hill set to earn just under $4 million over two seasons, it appears he’s gone the Michael Finley route. Both players, while extremely successful with other teams, never won a championship. Finley got his with the Spurs after agreeing to a lesser role and it looks like Hill is doing the same to play with a loaded Suns team. Should Marion and Stoudemire stick around (which I expect will happen), this team should be even better than they were the last couple years.

Let’s hope this story turns out well for Hill, a consummate professional ever since he entered the league in 1994. At one point, Hill was one of the best all-around players in the entire league. If he can avoid those injuries, he should be able to give this team 20-25 quality minutes a night. That might be all the Suns need to get past that team from San Antonio in the Western Conference.