[Miami Herald] Shaq-Marion Deal In Works (UPDATE: Done Deal)

Pretty flattering that the Suns are blowing up their team so they can match up against Yao and Co. better, right? I hope this trade goes through, because I don't see Phoenix being very competitive with an even thinner roster than they have now (O'Neal will be hurt most of the time). For the most part, it'll be

Nash/Barbosa
Bell
Hill
Diaw
Stoudemire/Skinner

Shaq will play when he's healthy, but who's going to back up the small forward position? Piatkowski? Really? Also a factor: Nash, Hill and Shaq are all old and creaky, with Stoudemire coming off those dreaded surgeries. Can they really play all these minutes and not start to wear down, or, God forbid, get injured? The only way the Suns are good is if everything goes perfectly for them the entire time. Judging from my experience as a sports fan, that never happens.

 

I think the PHX was THINKING right in that they needed a shake-up to get to the "next level." BUT this looks like the wrong move to make.

They lost their best defender in Marion, who also scores w/o having plays for him. And they picked up a guy who is so far past his prime it isn't even funny. They probably were gonna have to move Marion, but they could have done better than what they are getting.

Even if Shaq plays with more energy...he can't even stay on the court these days. What good is Shaq if he's sitting on the bench in street clothes???

 

Also, too bad Phoenix could never keep their egos in line. Remember when they had joe johnson? If only they had kept him they would have had now:

Nash/Barbosa
Johnson
Marion
Stoudemire
Thomas

It's still a thin team, but I think I would still take Johnson over Diaw and Bell. Even smarter if they had kept the rights to Rondo or Nate Robinson.

 

it seems the suns want a big defender/rebounder, why not get big ben and some young players

 

I don’t see why critics think this won’t work for Phoenix. Yeah, Shaq was breaking down when he was being relied on to carry Miami without Wade, or act as a 2nd tier star. He won’t have that role in Phoenix. They will want to use him as an inside presence. There are only 3 other dudes in the league with a presence like his….Duncan, Yao, Howard and possibly Bynum.

As old as he is you still have to put a body on him at all times. Outside of Amare the Suns didn’t have any bigs like that, and even Amare was undersized and could be less effective against true centers (see him against SA, Yao, Howard, Bynum earlier this season). I know Shaq isn’t run and gun but he can still finish inside the lane and you can’t leave him period.

He has also shown that he can still play solid interior defense and the refs will give him the benefit of the doubt. Shaq still makes bigs work for their points. Duncan and Yao…they will have to work for points.

I respect Marion as a hybrid but I don’t think Phoenix was going to win a title with him…maybe if they got to avoid SA or LA in the playoffs. And I personally think his defense is overrated, at least against the top teams in the West. Has he ever been able to stop Manu from getting off against them? Has he ever been able to stop Odom from going off? It’s not like they don’t have Hill to replace him…

If Shaq really wants to help Pho then he will watch some tapes of Robinson on his last legs in the 02/03 title run. Go watch that series and you will see the defensive impact of an old big that still gets respect from the refs.

 

The last 11 games Shaq played, he fouled out 6 times, one 5 foul game, and 3 4 foul games. To say that the refs still respect his defense is a bit of a stretch.

 

This was clearly a panic move, no ifs and buts about it. The combination of getting beat by Jacque Vaughn at home, the Gasol trade and the prospect of a Dallas front line featuring Nowitzki, Howard and Shaq was so scary to them that they felt they had to do something NOW, and that something was to try to steal Shaq away from the Mavs.

It was not a logical move. Now they can spend the next few weeks trying to convince themselves they made the right decision, but man, this is looking like one of the biggest fiascoes of the decade.

 

I love this deal..for the Rockets.

It's make the Suns so much more playable. It will slow them down and more importantly Yao will always have a guy he can guard.

Thank you, Steve Kerr!!

 

Actually there were some reports that Cuban was ready/willing to ship Josh Howard out for Shaq. Now THAT would have been pretty stupid.

 

Some people in here act like they didn't see the beating Shaq put on Yao earlier this season. He played great in that game and the Suns only need him to do that in the playoffs. The man is not done and he'll have more motivation playing with a good team.

People in here talk about how they'll slow down and that fast paced offense is what made them successful. Well what has that given them? A ring? no. Just regular season success. Some of you say their defense will be worse....it's not like they were good before that. Marion may have gotten some steals or opportunistic blocks but he was not going to sway anybody from driving to the hoop. With Shaq there, opponents will think twice before going into the lane. Just seeing a big body there is enough to make you think twice.

Shaq didn't look great with the Heat b/c the only person who could get him the ball or create an easy basket for him was Wade. Most of the time he was either double teamed or his teammate couldn't make post pass. With Nash, Hill, Diaw, and even Barbosa, Shaq now has teammates than can create easy baskets for him. Plus he's a great passer than can find the open shooters (which we know Phoenix has plenty of) which the Heat did not have.

Players who can pass and shoot are exactly the type of teammates Shaq needs. Don't sleep on the Diesel.

 

To differentiate from the Knicks, at least these moves make financial sense in the long run. The Knick are going to be horrible through the next decade.

Chemistry-wise this is similar to us and Charles Barkley. We couldn't beat the Sonics so we traded away good young talent to overcome Kemp and Payton, but then the Utah killed us. I think this is going to parallel this trade, they're now able to get past the Spurs who are on the decline anyway (Stoudamire or not), but now they're vunerable to Golden State, the Hornets and Dallas and to a lesser extent us.

 

Unless it was a ploy by Cuban to force the hand of some other team to trade for Shaq, in which case it was sheer genius (not that I know this was the case, and would prefer not to give Cuban any praise or credit).

 

My buddies Czar's thoughts and I agree.

Quickly I think this could be a good move by the suns and look at it as addition by subtraction. Amare has big time game and I expect that to expand without Matrix around. also should increase his longevity not banging around at the 5.

When was the last time Daddy was surrounded with 4 other legitimate threats ??? when was the last time he played with a PG who will feed him like gerber ??? he won't have to catch out at 17 feet and back in all game... he doesn't have that energy anymore. imagine the suns screen roll or screen and pop game getting nash into the lane then the help then Daddy with the soft layup off the glass. then rinse wash and repeat 7-9 times a game...

Or how about Amare going for 30 drawing double teams and nash and co burying the 3's and then looking for shaq after everyone else has it going??? The only question and its HUGE is can he stay healthy.

Putting him on the floor with a injured wade, jwill haslem and davis is much differnt that Amare, nash, bell, hill, or any other combo they can throw out there. I love shaq as a 3-4 option. Plus cousin was still shooting 60 % right ?

Now on d you definitely have a point. between he and Amare somebodys going off for the opposition but hey you can't have everything...lol

 

Pretty stupid, but still better than this. At least we know Shaq would fit perfectly into the Mavericks' system and give them that "real big man" they so sorely lack -- they would have some nice balanced scoring from both the frontcourt and backcourt. The rumors I've heard though were that it was something along the lines of Stackhouse + George + perhaps a pick.

 

Point noted. The Suns may well matchup better against the Spurs (I'm not ready to anoint the Lakers just yet) but Houston's chances against them just got a whole lot better. So I'm happy for the trade, good luck to Phoenix in the playoffs and hopefully we'll beat them in the remaining games we play against them in the regular season. And WHOOP THEM IF WE SEE THEM IN MAY.

 

The suns arent idiots, they new even before the gasol trade Bynum and Kobe were just waiting to take them out in the post season, and now with Gasol , the pressure was on.

 

Just for the record. The Suns were NEVER gonna make it to the finals with marion. NEVER.

 

What a gamble by the Suns! This move could put them over the top or it could flop. They weren't going to go anywhere with the same squad that lost last year anyways. I'll say it's a needed experimnent for the Suns.

 

The Suns should have never let Colangelo go. Steve Kerr isn't looking so good.

 

How long did it take Kerr to convince himself that this is a good move?