BOSTON – It's no secret the Celtics will need to strengthen their frontcourt this offseason if they plan on competing for the NBA title next year.

That became very evident in the playoffs last year when forwards Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe went down with knee injuries and the Celtics were razor thin in the frontcourt.

Sure, a healthy Garnett and Powe would have helped, especially considering that Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis did an excellent job containing Orlando's Dwight Howard compared to the way he completely dominated the Cleveland Cavaliers.

But Cleveland went out and completed a trade on Thursday that will have Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge strongly considering making a trade or spending as much money as the Celtics can afford to for a highly-talented big man this summer.

The Cavs, in a blockbuster move, sent Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, the 46th pick of the draft and $500,000 to the Suns for the 7-foot-1, 325-pound imposing center Shaquille O'Neal.

"He will not only open things up potentially for LeBron (James), but for his other teammates," ESPN The Magazine's senior writer Chris Broussard said on ESPN's SportsCenter. "They have a lot of good shooters -- Mo Williams, Delonte West -- [and] they should get more open looks than they got even just playing off LeBron. Defensively he's a big body who you can put on Dwight Howard and let him play him one-on-one. That's something obviously they didn't have in the playoffs this season."

O'Neal, one of the greatest centers in NBA history, is slowing down in his career at the age of 37, but he is still one of the better centers in the league. He averaged 17.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in 75 games last season.

"The people around Shaq tell you that you are going to get the best Shaquille O'Neal that you can possibly get at this stage of his career," Broussard said.

O'Neal becomes an instant upgrade in the middle for the Cavs, and O'Neal pairing with James, last year's league MVP, makes the Cavs, who lost to the Magic in the Eastern Conference finals last season, a better and more balanced team on paper.

"Shaq does give them an offensive post presence – a guy who commands double-teams down on the block," Broussard said. "That's something LeBron James has never had since he's been in the NBA.

When Garnett was forced to guard O'Neal in Boston's 104-87 win on Jan. 19, he said guarding O'Neal is "like holding up a wall. Go home, knock out the foundation in your house and hold up the wall. When it's about to fall on you, that's what it's like guarding Shaq."

On the flip side, O'Neal is not that agile anymore, and Garnett and Howard are both quick players who could use their speed to get by O'Neal, especially with the pick-and-roll.

"Shaq is very vulnerable to the pick-and-roll and that's something that Orlando and Boston run a lot and run well so that could be a liability but Cleveland was a liability already on that play because of Zydrunas Ilgauskas so they shouldn't be any worse," Broussard said. "It's just a matter of how much they can cover for Shaq in the pick and roll."

This will also be the first time that James, other than during his stint with the U.S. Olympic team, has another player on his roster that is as big of a star as he is. Broussard doesn't think that will be a problem.

"LeBron was so animate about getting his deal done," Broussard said. "He let the Cavs know…get Shaq. Shaq is motivated as well. He really wanted to play in Cleveland, so any potential chemistry problems, the Cavs felt really wouldn't become an issue because both guys are so motivated to win a championship."

With Cleveland becoming a stronger team, and Orlando trying to close a deal with New Jersey for All-Star Vince Carter, the Celtics will certainly look to get stronger this summer.

"I anticipate that we will be involved in the free-agent market," Ainge said. "Whether we get the guys we want or not, we are not just going to get anybody, but there are some players that we would like to make a run at."

Among the top unrestricted free agents who will be hitting the open market in July include Shawn Marion, Allen Iverson, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Rasheed Wallace, Jason Kidd, Andre Miller, Mike Bibby, Ben Gordon, Hedo Turkoglu, Drew Gooden, and Chirs Wilcox.

The Celtics hope to land at least one of these free agents this summer.

"I think that the free agent mid-level talent pool is fairly deep, but based on our needs it may not be so deep for us," Ainge said. "We certainly are not going to go out and spend a mid-level exception on a point guard or on a wing player, although that's not impossible. Probably more likely a bigger player, although there are some good wing players out there that are mid-level free agents that we'd be thrilled to get."

Ainge doesn't believe attracting a big name free agent will be a problem for the Celtics.

"I think that we have an attractive place to play," Ainge said. "I think there are a lot of players that would love to come to Boston to play."

roblee@projo.com