No. 2 Cavs offseason move that didn't work: Shaquille O'Neal
The Cavs wanted to get back to the Finals after their 2007 appearance and in June of 2009, the team decided to trade for Shaquille O'Neal, probably the best NBA big man during that era. Cleveland was challenging every season with James on those Cavs teams, and this move was viewed as getting the team that last piece to get them that first-ever NBA title.
Unfortunately, that's not how the final act went for Cleveland as they got ousted by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals. O'Neal also suffered a thumb injury in February of that season that sidelined him for much of the spring. He did return by the postseason, but the duo of Shaq and James could not overcome the Celtics.
O'Neal was 37 years old and had played in the NBA for 18 seasons when the Cavs took a chance on him, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that things went the way that they did. After that horrific ending to the season, O'Neal left to play for the Celtics, the team that had just beat him in the previous postseason. James took his talents to South Beach to play with the Miami Heat.
Getting the star or big named player isn't always what it's cracked up to be, and certainly O' Neal and Wade were examples of that for the Cavs. This following example coming up was a young and rising superstar in the league. Yet, that too fell apart before it even started.