With the Cavs dealing for Shaquille Oneal, they did more than shore up their front-line and improve their overall team dynamic. They also assured that Kendrick Perkins will (barring some incredible trade) remain in Boston. While the Cavs and Shaq now match up better with Orlando and Dwight Howard, they may have actually become a better matchup for the Celtics. Perkins (and Big Baby Davis, if re-signed) have a history of playing Shaq pretty well. In fact, they play Shaq significantly better than they play Big Z. So while many pundits are going to take this trade and etch Cleveland's name onto the 2010 Eastern Conference Champions trophy, it's the Celtics that may become the main benificiaries of the deal. I'm not saying that Cleveland didn't improve themselves with this trade (they did), but they may have also unintentionally improved the Celtics as well.

Obviously, anything can happen. But with Shaq now in the East, the Celtics cannot afford to lose their big man in the middle, who is arguably the best post defender in the NBA. Thanks, Cleveland.