In a blockbuster, three-way trade involving Cleveland, Chicago, Seattle and 11 players, the Cavaliers acquired center Ben Wallace from the Bulls and forward Wally Szczerbiak from the SuperSonics.

Cavaliers get: Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, Joe Smith, future Chicago second-round pick
Bulls get: Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Shannon Brown, Cedric Simmons
Sonics get: Ira Newble, Adrian Griffin, Donyell Marshall

Before we get too in depth with this trade, let's examine Cleveland's strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths

1. LeBron James - my pick as the NBA's MVP thus far. The most talented player in the NBA has improved his defense and remains a deadly playmaker. His outside shot still leaves much to be desired but there is no questioning whether the young phenom is a leader.

2. Frontcourt depth. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden and Varejao provided great defense and rebounding.

3. Team defense. Cleveland's trip to the NBA Finals was a fluke. There's no denying they were the worst team in NBA Finals history and had no business being among the last two teams left. But the Cavalier defense was enough to get them through the pathetic Eastern Conference. The Cavs also held the Spurs to a respectable average of 86.5 points per game in route to being swept 4-0.

Weaknesses

1. Outside shooting. Despite leading the league in scoring, LeBron James is more Magic Johnson than Michael Jordan. He has an unbelievably high basketball IQ and rarely makes bad decisions with the basketball. Aside from Daniel Gibson, the Cavs have done a poor job of surrounding the King with shooters who can make the defense pay when they collapse on LBJ.

2. Perimeter strength. Part of the reason Larry Hughes was forced to play the PG is because he is a terrible player without the ball in his hands. Playing him at the point was the only way for him to touch the ball in an offense that runs exclusively through James. Daniel Gibson is not a pure point guard. He's an undersized shooting guard.

Many of Cleveland's problems stem from their lack of a true point guard to get them into their sets. Consequently, James has been forced to play the role of playmaker for the majority of his 4 seasons in Cleveland. A role he's capable of but not best suited for when he is also expected to be their go-to-scorer.

How much can one player do? How much can that player, even at the tender age of 22, expect to have left in the tank come playoff time when he is averaging 40.5 minutes a night , shouldering ALL of his team's offense?

3. Offensive chemistry. Cleveland's offense is horribly inept at times. Their offensive scheme basically consists of getting the ball to LeBron and everyone else spacing and spotting up. It worked against mediocre teams like Washington, New Jersey, & Detroit last year but we all saw what happened in the Finals. A truly great team will NEVER let one player beat them.

Basketball is and always will be a TEAM GAME and it takes a great team to win NBA (not Eastern Conference) championships.

So does this trade shore up Cleveland's weaknesses and make them a championship team?

No.

Cleveland's point guard situation becomes worse with the addition of Delonte West. West is a 24 year old, 3rd year point guard who was stuck behind Luke Ridnour and Earl Watson in Seattle. He has played 3 career playoff games and averaged 16 minutes in those 3 contests.

Hughes' shot selection was questionable but he was a very versatile player who added to Cleveland's defense with his size and length. West is 6'3 180 pounds. Good luck matching up with Chauncey Billups in the playoffs. Eric Snow hasn't gotten off the bench much this season and as I stated above, Gibson isn't capable of running a basketball team from the point guard position. "Boobie" is undersized as well.

West's career 3 point percentage is 37%, Hughes was shooting 34% this season.

Wally Szczerbiak will improve Cleveland's outside shooting but whose minutes will he take? Sasha Pavlovic's? With James manning the shooting forward position, Sasha and Wally will compete for minutes at shooting guard. Pavlovic was key in Cleveland's run last year. He thoroughly outplayed Vince Carter in the 2nd round of the playoffs.

"Wally World" has never been a playoff performer. His career playoff 3 point percentage is 27%. Far below his career regular season mark of 41%. Cleveland will also sacrifice perimeter defense with Wally in the game.

Former four-time Defensive Player of The Year winner Ben Wallace is finished. Presumably, he was added to bolster the Cleveland frontcourt defense, which was already a strength. Wallace is averaging 5.1 points and 8.8 rebounds. Drew Gooden was averaging 11.3 points and 8.3 rebounds. Drew is also seven years younger and a reliable scorer in the low post.

It's going to be interesting to see what the most offensively challenged player in the NBA adds to Cleveland's poor offensive continuity. Adding Wallace also creates rotation problems. Mike Brown can't possibly play Varejao and Wallace together...unless he wants to set a precedent for playing two players who have each shot the ball OVER the backboard.

Joe Smith is a good scorer with his back to the basket but will not be able to defend Rasheed Wallace or Kevin Garnett come playoff time. Neither will Ben Wallace. Varajao is best equipped for that assignment but watching him on the offensive end is like watching a train wreck. This trade may have worked if Brown were allowed to substitute on every offensive and defensive possession but obviously that's an impossibility.

Joe Smith is the bright spot in this trade but was it worth giving up Drew Gooden?

The Cavs traded 3 starters for an unproven point guard, a washed up center, a 3 point shooter who will be a huge liability on defense, and a power forward who is no better than the one they gave up.

Danny Ferry made the headlines and Cleveland may have given LBJ the allusion they were committed to winning but in the end, Cleveland did little to nothing to shore up their weaknesses and make them better equipped to match up with Eastern Conference elite teams Detroit and Boston. Luckily for the Cavs, they still have their number one strength and the Pistons and Celtics can't match up with him either.