The Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday won their first championship since parting ways with Shaquille O'Neal. So it's somehow only fitting that their former star player would steal a little bit of the Lakers' thunder.

According to a report on the Arizona Republic Web site, a potential trade that would send O'Neal to Cleveland is heating up again.

The move, which was first discussed in February, would pair O'Neal with LeBron James, giving him perhaps his last, best shot at a fifth NBA championship. In return, the Suns would receive Ben Wallace, who is considering retirement, and reserve guard Sasha Pavlovic.

The two teams would have diametrically opposed reasons for making the deal. The Cavs would be looking for a missing piece to the championship puzzle, while the Suns would simply be trying to shed O'Neal's $20 million salary.

Just one year ago, it would have appeared to be impossible to move O'Neal and that bloated price tag. But O'Neal is coming off a season that saw him earn third-team All-NBA honors. He averaged 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds, while playing in 75 games, his most in nine seasons. He's also heading into the final year of his deal, meaning the Cavs wouldn't be on the hook for too much if this experiment were to fail.

The Cavs have some urgency to upgrade the talent around James, whose individual brilliance wasn't enough to keep Cleveland from being defeated by Orlando in the Eastern Conference finals. James can become a free agent after the 2009-10 season and has done little to suppress the speculation that he wouldn't mind playing for the New York Knicks.