Jerry Zgoda's short takes: Feb. 24

By JERRY ZGODA, Star Tribune

Last update: February 23, 2008 - 11:00 PM

Cleveland GM Danny Ferry on why he traded three-fifths of his starting lineup to acquire Ben Wallace and Joe Smith from Chicago and Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak from Seattle Thursday:

"I didn't think we were good enough to win a championship. We were a very good team. I thought if we had a chance to make the team better, we should try. It was a risk. We took some risk. It was a good risk. We're bringing in guys who should fit."

Ferry placed the call to the league office to register the trades one minute before the 2 p.m. Central deadline and didn't get final approval until 4 1/2 hours after the deadline passed.

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A bit of hyperbole, but you get the idea: Shaquille O'Neal was downright giddy when he made his Phoenix debut Wednesday by scoring 15 points in 29 minutes in a home loss to the Lakers and then said, "When we get used to each other, we'll be the most dangerous team ever created."

Guess there was no need to worry about how the big guy would mesh with such a high-octane team, huh?

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Instead of their usual warmups, the Chicago Bulls wore gray Northern Illinois University T-shirts on the bench and during warmups in games last week to remember five students killed by a gunman.

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Others in San Antonio's locker room might have thought it after the Mavericks finally made the deal to acquire Jason Kidd, but Tony Parker said it: He's glad to see Devin Harris and DeSagana Diop leave Dallas.

"To be honest with you, I'm really happy for that trade," he said. "Diop was going a good job on us. And Devin Harris, most of the time he played good against us. So I thought it would be good for us. No disrespect to Jason Kidd, he's a great point guard, but those guys who left always gave us trouble."

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