Although the Suns initially held out for a better package, they settled for a deal that gives them little more than financial relief. Phoenix will receive two marginal rotation players, the past-his-prime center Ben Wallace and the swingman Sasha Pavlovic, as well as $500,000 and a future second-round pick.

If the Suns waive Pavlovic, whose contract is only partly guaranteed, they can save about $9 million in salary and luxury-tax payments. They could save millions more if Wallace decides to retire and accept a buyout, a possibility he has entertained.

“We felt it was important to make a move to gain financial flexibility so that we can make this transition to re-establish ourselves as a basketball team,” Steve Kerr, the Suns’ general manager, said on the team’s Web site. “We have to get to a point where we can make basketball decisions rather than financial ones.”

Where this leaves the Suns is unclear. They have been dangling Amar’e Stoudemire, their other All-Star big man, in trade discussions all year. Their All-Star point guard, Steve Nash, is entering the last year of his contract and has been notably disconcerted by the team’s direction.

Once a perennial contender in the West, Phoenix has traded away three essential players  O’Neal, Boris Diaw and Raja Bell  since December. They traded Shawn Marion, once a core player, 16 months ago, in the deal for O’Neal.

If the Suns embark on a wholesale rebuilding effort, Stoudemire and Nash could be the next to go. Nash has openly entertained the idea of reuniting with Knicks Coach Mike D’Antoni  with whom he had his best years in Phoenix  if not via trade then as a free agent in 2010.

The trade also has implications for Orlando and the Boston Celtics, the last two Eastern Conference champions, who will now be revisiting their defensive schemes to cope with O’Neal, the most dominant big man of his era, and James, perhaps the best all-around player in the league.