Ken Berger at CBSSports.com reports that Ron Artest will sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Apparently, the Lakers will let Trevor Ariza go and will sign Ron Artest - another free agent that the Cavaliers had been making a heavy push, according to reports.

Reportedly Artest even had a face-to-face meeting with LeBron James this past Tuesday, but it looks as if Artest prefers the bright lights of Los Angeles to the cold winters of Cleveland.

If this indeed proves to be the cases, the Cavs’ free agent prospects are becoming limited quickly.  Reports out of Boston have the Boston Three Party - Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce - along with coach Doc Rivers and team president Danny Ainge reaching out to Rasheed Wallace in Detroit.  Wallace’s agent was traveling and could not be reached for comment.

Artest would have been a good fit for the Cavs.  His 17.1 points and 5.2 rebounds would have been valued, but his lockdown defense would have been more of an asset. 

If this pans out the Los Angeles Lakers have to be considered the favorite to repeat as NBA champions next season.

UPDATE:  Is it me or is the Western Conference incestuous?  Artest goes to live happily ever after with Kobe.  Trevor Ariza, feeling disrespected, goes to the Houston Rockets, Artest’s apparent former team and the Cavaliers are left shadow dancing for now.

SI.com reports only that Wallace is receptive to the Celtics offer.  He’s going to leverage his hand to the fullest.  He knows that Boston would love to have him as a backup and that the Cavaliers along with the San Antonio Spurs would love to have his services as well. San Antonio finds itself in the same situation as Boston in Cleveland - working with the mid-level exception which is worth $5.6-5.8 million this year.

Logically speaking this is going to come down to the number of years that a team is willing to offer for ‘Sheed’s services.

It didn’t take long for the Cavs to flaunt Shaquille O’Neal’s arrival.

Season ticket holders reported getting a video email from the Cavs’ new center thanking them for their support.  They also reported getting robocall greetings as well.

Impressive indeed.

One thing that became evidently after Shaquille O’Neal sat down to give Cleveland a formal hello was that the upcoming NBA season won’t be a dull one.

The Big Diesel arrived with sense of humor in tow and didn’t disappoint in that area, but he also made it completely clear that while there will be fun to be had in the upcoming season, this is just as much about business as well.

Sporting a black suit, with pink shirt and matching tie O’Neal knows that GM Danny Ferry traded for him to help get this team over the hump this season.

”Expectations are very high and we want them to be high,” O’Neal said.

When asked about future matchups, O’Neal said that’s not a big issue for him.

”I’m not going to waste this year talking about possible matchups,” he said before going on the record and saying facing the Lakers could be intriguing.

But talk of the here and now, didn’t stop him from dropping hints about the future.  In his eyes, he’s got three years left in him and said so, in the process sounding open to the idea of extending with the Cavs.

Given that even on the downside of his career that he averaged 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, there’s little reason to dispute that.

For those of you lounging around at home, Shaquille O’Neal’s introductory press conference will held at 1 p.m. at Cleveland Clinic Courts.  FS Ohio will carry it live.

If you’re stuck in the office and want to listen on WTAM (AM 1100) or streamed at their website.

Several outlets are reporting that the Cavaliers are making a strong play for Houston Rockets swingman Ron Artest.

In the process, LeBron James reportedly met with Artest Tuesday while in Los Angeles, according ot the Plain Dealer.

Artest made $7 million last year and wants to be with a team that could win  a championship, giving the Cavaliers an advantage considering the Houston Rockets, the team he played for last season, may have little shot of that because of a career-threatening injury to center Yao Ming.

But the other advantage may come in the fact that Mike Brown was on the coaching staff while he played for the Indiana Pacers. Brown said more than once during the regular season how much he admired the way Artest played the game.

That could be invaluable in courting a player who was involved in the infamous Detroit brawl, but who has maintained a low, controversy free profile for the past two seasons.

As for how to get him here? The likelihood that the Cavaliers will play for the mid-level exception of approximately $5.8 million, but the Rockets do covet Anderson Varejao raising the possibility of a sign-and-trade deal.

The Cavaliers may also be on the list of Los Angeles Lakers swingman Trevor Ariza, according to ESPN.com.

The Detroit Pistons aren’t wasting anytime in rebuilding their team, reportedly reaching a deal with former Chicago Bull Ben Gordon, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Teams cannot officially announce deals until July 8.  In the first day of free agency, Gordon and unrestricted free agent Charlie Villanueva both made visits to the Pistons and nailed both their guys, according to Ken Berger of CBSSportsline.com.

Gordon apparently got a five-year deal worth $55 million with Villanueva’s contract still be worked on. 

What’s this mean for the Cavs, if Villanueva has agreed to terms with the Pistons, it seems less likely that the Pistons would keep both Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess their two power forwards.

Post mortem:  Magic 103, Cavs 90

The familiar refrain returns to the North Coast:  ”Wait until next year.”

Yup, I’m sure everyone wanted to hear that line muttered.  But this year, despite the record, the Cavs weren’t the best team on the floor. Ultimately, the Magic possessed too much depth and presented too many matchup problems for them to overcome.

Tonight?  Tonight was just what my mother would call a butt whooping.  Orlando had both aspects of their game working tonight - inside and outside.  Had they been able to score from upside down, they would have.

There was just too much Dwight Howard who scored 40 points and pulled down 14 boards.  And there was too much success from the three-point line as the Magic shot 40 percent from the arc for the fifth game out of six. 

The Cavs’ bench was exposed in this series, as they were outscored from again.  The margin was only four points, but there’s no legtimate spark from the Cavs bench if you look at this team objectively. 

Daniel Gibson has the capacity to do that, but has dealt with injury and has played inconsistently.  Wally Szczerbiak’s best days are behind him, ditto Ben Wallace.  In the off-season Danny Ferry and his staff will have to come up with some answers to deal with that area.

First quarter:  Magic 30, Cavs 25

Blown opportunities sum up the quarter for the Cavaliers.  They had plenty of chances to capitalize on Magic mistakes on the offensive end.  Right now it’s a game to see which superstar lifts his team to victory.  Both LeBron James and Orlando’s Dwight Howard have 13 points.

The Magic are doing a tremendous job keeping the Cavs’ guard from penetrating for shots.  Mo Williams who delivered a sterling effort Thursday night stands 0-for-3 thus far.  Has he lost the storke as quickly as he got it back? 

What’s evident is the energy the Magic have brought thus far.  They do not want to return to Cleveland for a Game 7.  Their sense of urgency is fueling them.

Game:  Cavs vs.  Magic - Eastern Conference Finals Game 6

Broadcast:  TV: TNT.  Radio: WAKR (1590 AM); WTAM (1100 AM), WHBC (1480 AM).

Starters:  Cavs:  LeBron James (F); Anderson Varejao (F); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C); Delonte West (G); Mo Williams (G). Magic: Hedo Turkoglu (F); Rashard Lewis (F); Dwight Howard (C); Delonte West (G); Mo Williams (G)

Injured-inactive:  Cavs:  J.J. Hickson, Lorenzen Wright.  Magic: Jameer Nelson.

Pre-game observations:

The Cavaliers looked to find the winning formula Thursday night when they beat the Magic in Cleveland.  They freed LeBron James up to operate from the top of the key and when Magic players collapsed on him opening up passing lanes for him.

The only thing he needed was for his teammates to do what they did all year show up and hit shots.  Mo Williams finally got his stroke back, scoring 24 points including six three-point shots.

They’re loose.  They’re confident, but they don’t win in this building very often - at least not in recent years.  So we’ll see what happens.

LeBron James on what he expects the Magic to do in Game 6:

They’re going to try to use their home court as motivation and we’re going to try to use that as motivation also.  At this point you know everything about this team and they know everything about us. It’s not like they’re going to change a lot of things.  You can’t change a lot of things at this point. You just have to go out and try to execute.

Post-mortem: Cavs 112, Magic 102

Yeah, I know.  Nice blog, George.  Sorry.  It was either type during the game and deal with pain or type a game story along with the blog and deal with excrutiating pain.  I chose the former.

Probably the Cavaliers’ most complete game of the series thus far. The big difference: they played like they did for the entire season. LeBron James was the spark with his triple double of 37 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists, but he got a lot of help from his teammates as Mo Williams showed up in a huge way with 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

More importantly, they wer eable to connect from the outside, as they hit on 50 percent of their three-point shots when they’d been hitting just 26 percent.  Huge improvement.

In the process, they held the Magic to just 32 percent from the three-point line - a stark contrast.

Then what else do you say about James?  At one point during the game he involved himself in 32 consecutive points.

Game:  Cavs vs.  Magic - Eastern Conference Finals Game 2

Broadcast:  TV: TNT.  Radio: WAKR (1590 AM); WTAM (1100 AM), WHBC (1480 AM).

Starters:  Cavs:  LeBron James (F); Anderson Varejao (F); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C); Delonte West (G); Mo Williams (G). Magic: Hedo Turkoglu (F); Rashard Lewis (F); Dwight Howard (C); Delonte West (G); Mo Williams (G)

Injured-inactive:  Cavs:  J.J. Hickson, Lorenzen Wright.  Magic: Jameer Nelson.

Pre-game observations:

Prepare for the kitchen sink strategy.  Mike Brown employed it the other nightand they almost pulled one out. 

You can look back on that game and they did so much right as a team - mostly in the area of defense - in regulation that watching the overtime implosion proved extremely difficult.  It’s as if what they were doing right until that point, they suddenly forgot.

Here it is: I’m on record right now saying that the Magic hit nowhere near 40 percent from the three-point arc, which will be key.  Magic center Dwight Howard will get his, but I see this one going back to Orlando.

Post-mortem:  Magic 116, Cavs 114

Here’s what I don’t get.  The Cavaliers held the Magic’s Dwight Howard reasonably in check with 17 points in regulation and then he explodes for 10 points in overtime.  There’s the difference if you asked me.

The Cavaliers had the chance to pick their poison and those chose to keep eyes fixed on the Magic’s three-point shooters. In the process, they had to leave Howard with only one guy on him and the center ate whomever that player happened to be.

The Cavaliers had their chances in this one down to the final seconds, but overall there are reasons why this one went out the window. 

Offensively, the Magic shot 50 percent from overall in the game and 44.7 percent from the three-point line.  They’ve shot over 40 percent in 3-of-4 games in the series.  In the process they’ve held the Cavs to under 40 percent from the arc in all four games.

For some inexplicable reason after the first half they reverted to form in this game relying on LeBron James to do everything on offense.  That first half?  Balance.  The second?  Not so much. 

Mo Williams once again shot under 35 percent and the Cavs got hammered on bench points 26-14.

What’s left?  Reality.  The Cavs have a less than 4 percent chance to pull this out if you look back to prior NBA seven-game series where one team led 3-1.  Right now, the season of One Goal is on the verge of collapsing, forcing the Cavs to look to question parts of the team they once viewed as strengths.

First half:  Cavs 58, Magic 50

Mike Brown has opened up his bench just a little bit by giving Daniel Gibson some significant minutes. 

There’s plenty to like in this half so far.  First the Magic are getting leads and the Cavaliers are beating them back and in doing so, grab much needed momentum.

In a stretch of the second quarter they held the Magic scoreless for a five minute stretch.  In another portion of the game, they outscored the Magic 9-2 to take a lead.

There’s a distinct difference in the way the offense is unfolding as the Cavaliers look to have some semblance of rhythm going.  While LeBron James is still the team’s leading scorer with 17, this time aroucn he is getting significant help from Willaims - who is still struggling from the floor but has 12 points - Delonte West with nine points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas with six each.  Furthermore, the Cavs are beating them on the fastbreak 15-9 and in the paint, 24-20.

Gibson has provided a big lift hitting two three point shots in the half.  What are the Cavs doing right?  Defensively they’re still pestering Howard without committing dumb fouls.   Most notably, they held  Rashard Lewis, who has been the Magic’s leading scorer, to just four points in the half.

First quarter:  Cavs 25, Magic 21

Some nice defense and a cold hand helped the Cavs jump to a modest lead in the quarter as the Magic shoots just 40 percent for the quarter, including a stretch where they miss nine consecutive shots.  Unfortunately, the Cavs could better capitalize on the situation as they missed their own share in the period’s final minutes.

Game:  Cavs vs.  Magic - Eastern Conference Finals Game 2

Broadcast:  TV: TNT.  Radio: WAKR (1590 AM); WTAM (1100 AM), WHBC (1480 AM).

Starters:  Cavs:  LeBron James (F); Anderson Varejao (F); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C); Delonte West (G); Mo Williams (G). Magic: Hedo Turkoglu (F); Rashard Lewis (F); Dwight Howard (C); Delonte West (G); Mo Williams (G)

Injured-inactive:  Cavs:  J.J. Hickson, Lorenzen Wright.  Magic: Jameer Nelson.

Pre-game observations:

Some say the Cavs made progress defensively the other night.  I won’t disagree with that.  I still see a team that’s overmatched right now and hasn’t shown itself to be otherwise.  For anyone who has read what I’ve written in the paper about Delonte West, you know I admire his play - offensively and defensively, but having him have to contend with Turkoglu, a guy he gives seven inches to may be  bit much.

The Cavs need to put it together offensively tonight and that doesn’t mean the LeBron James Show.  That means Mo Williams West have to hit from the outside and Ilgauskas has to maintain some semblance of consistency.

Defensively they have to slow the Magic down.  The key to their offense, other than their ability to execute the pick-and-roll and their inside-outside game is to not allow Cavs to get back on defense and set up.

Post Mortem:  Magic 99, Cavs 89

Some of you will disagree with this, but I get the overriding impression that this on is over. The Cas possess no complete solution to stopping the Magic.

In a physical game that was also occasionally sloppy, the Magic put together a defensive gem, holding the Cavs to 37 percent shooting for the game. LeBron James outscored the rest of the starting lineup 41-40.  That’s not good.

Mo Williams said it best after the game, this team isn’t playing the way they had throughout the season - with balance and a collective sense of purpose.  This wasn’t supposed to turninto the LeBron James show, but it quickly has.

Part of that is due to the Magic.  They seem to have decided that they’ll allow James his, but take away his teammates.  We will dicuss the gory details tomorrow after I go over the numbers.  While this wasn’t a blow-out the Cavs have little that they can really take from this game other than knowing if they don’t win Tuesday night, they go back to Quicken Loans Arena with Orlando having the opportunity to win the Eastern Conference title on Cleveland’s home court.

First quarter:  Magic 24, Cavs 17

Magic shoots 59 percent for the quarter, Cavs 42 percent. But where the Cavs have reason to worry is the number of turnovers they committed in the first quarter.  Six Cavaliers turnovers led to 10 of the Magic’s 24 points in the quarter.

So far Mo Williams continues to struggle as he’s hit just 2-of-5 shots in the quarter.  Magic players contest every shot while Cavs look disjointed.

Game:  Cavs vs.  Magic - Eastern Conference Finals Game 2

Broadcast:  TV: TNT.  Radio: WAKR (1590 AM); WTAM (1100 AM), WHBC (1480 AM).

Starters:  Cavs:  LeBron James (F); Anderson Varejao (F); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C); Delonte West (G); Mo Williams (G). Magic: Hedo Turkoglu (F); Rashard Lewis (F); Dwight Howard (C); Delonte West (G); Mo Williams (G)

Injured-inactive:  Cavs:  J.J. Hickson, Lorenzen Wright.  Magic: Jameer Nelson.

Pre-game observations:

LeBron James said in his pre-game meeting with the media that he might need to clone himself to help his team keep up with the Magic.  If only…

Here’s the dilemma - and this was the one problem most everyone noted prior to the start of the series - Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu create matchup problems for the Cavs.  For that reason, look for Mike Brown to go back to Sasha Pavlovic off the bench.  At 6-foot-7,  Pavlovic is long, athletic and negates at least some of that advantage these guys have.   Performing as he did he at least earned some more playing time in the series.

Friday night saw the Cavs apparently have the right answer for Dwight Howard as well as the Cavs held him to just 10 points.  Of course he had 18 rebounds, but he’s going to rebound regardless. Each time he touched the ball, the Cavs got physical with him, harassed him. 

Great.  What do you do about the other two guys? Logically speaking, there’s no way the Magic can keep hitting more than 40 percent of their three-point shots in this series.  I could be wrong, but that is a torrid pace to maintain throughout the series.  But if the Cavs are able to neutralize Howard again, Lewis is the next go-to guy and here’s betting that he sees a lot more of James than in the prior to games.

How the Cavs play here tonight dictates how this series will go.  Being completely honest, I’m not even close to liking what’s been put on display in the first two games.   While Mo Williams delivered 19 points the other night, it was on 7-of-21 shooting.  Both he and Delonte West have to deliver offensively as well as defensively.