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

I think the Suns made a mistake.

I don't think the Rockets should follow the Sun's path.

But that is just my opinion *shrug*

 

It's been an eventful week. Morey will be coming back to wonder "was the duty free worth it?".

 

Hollinger and I are on the same page about this deal, although he doesn't even go into the details of why I think Shaq in Phoenix does not work. But he makes some great points I have echoed earlier:

- This hurts them defensively, bad. Amare is already one of the worst big defenders in the NBA, and then you add Shaq who can't defend without fouling out before halftime these days. And then to make matters worse, you take away the team's best wing defender, who had enough versatility to guard anyone from the 2 to the 4, caused a ton of deflections and steals, and played enough team defense to actually make their overall team D look somewhat respectable.

- They lose their #1 fast break weapon and add Shaq. That's awesome.

- They think they traded away a malcontent in Marion, only to add Mr. Shaquille "they need to f-ing give me the ball" O'Neal.


What makes this worse: from what I've read, this trade was almost entirely a reactionary move to:
1. The Lakers trading for Gasol. Apparently they got scared out of their minds about what problems the new LA front line posed for them....
2. A rumor about the Dallas Mavericks trying to get Shaq (ostensibly for Stackhouse + George + fillers).

So in other words, they panicked and decided to rush this deal through so that at least they could 1-up the Mavericks. Which explains why the whole deal suddenly materialized within a matter of hours.

Way to go, Steve Kerr.

 

Who gives a *****? Shaq isn't the same player anymore. He's fat and slow now. The Suns would be better off with Shawn Marion.

 

Amazing, first Pau....now Shaq. Crazy.

 

This move is all about the playoffs.

 

Why Houston need to do something that is a downgrade for PHX.

 

Forgot to add the Hollinger article link:
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insi...?columnist=hollinger_john&page=ShaqSuns080206

 

it doesn't matter if this trade doesn't work out for the suns. but what it means is that EVERY contender in the west is looking to IMPROVE.

morey MUST do something. our 3 biggest weaknesses coming into the season were
1) PG - most glaring
2) PF
3) bench

the PF position has been pretty much stabilized now with a lot of versatility in landry, scola, and hayes. the bench is stabilized also with bonzi, landry, head, and brooks.

but the PG position is still a glaring weakness. brooks still is too inconsistent (he's a rookie) and our offense stagnates at times with him. head just cannot play PG period. and rafer is wildly inconsistent with his shooting (if only rafer can shoot consistently, i don't think this is a weakness at all).

a solution can be we can play tmac at the point some ONLY if we get another perimeter scorer/shooter (ala a mike miller).

but again, even the suns, who have the best record in the west, is desperate in response to what the lakers did. we must do something.

but jon feign said nothing has gone on

 

Personally I would say that this is one of those trades that actually could set the Suns back and even if they do go to the finals this year as a result, they would mortgage their future IMO. Based on that, if the matrix goes to Miami that is actually good thing for us because, he kicks our ASSES every time and with Shaq you know what you're dealing with and Yao has shown to actually at least go even with Shaq and even get the better of him on occasion. Jerry Colangelo would NEVER do this trade! Potentially, this trade might actually help us! Call me crazy ...

 

I think this trade is bogus
I'd love to eat crow too cause that means the Suns are quite screwed. I've watched Shaq play and his been useless all season.

wht on earth are the Suns thinking

 

Doesn't anyone remember Shaq turning it up against Yao when the Rockets played them?

Shaq can't do it all season long. But he can pick and choose the games where he goes crazy. This move is all about the playoffs.

 

lakers are now STACKED on the frontcourt once bynum returns (and they have whupped the suns this yr WITHOUT gasol)

spurs are still owning them

that's basically why they're trading for shaq. they know this team can win in the reg. season, but def. not the playoffs. they're desperate for one last chance with nash getting older every year.

i thnk we don't need to make drastic changes, but we need to do something to shore up our shooting a little bit.

 

they didn't need hakeem in his prime to beat the spurs, they needed someone else who could check duncan(not amare) and score inside, while being athletic enough to play uptempo. pau gasol was 100 times a better fit for the suns than shaq, yet kerr didn't offer marion for him causing a rival to land him, which prompted this horrible deal.

the illusion is that people think this will make them good defensively. Sorry, but shaq is an old broke down unathletic big man. bynum/gasol will be too fast for him, the warriors will run him out of the gym in the first quarter, and duncan will still hurt the suns.

 

Say what you want and Bash Kerr as much as you may but the point is the Suns with their current core (Nash,Marion,Amare) peaked. I can already look into the crystal ball and would have seen the Suns finish with the best record in the West and then go on to the Western Conference Finals and get knocked off by either the Spurs, Mavs or Lakers if they didn't do this trade.

This is a medium-risk and high-reward move that can potentially bring the Suns a championship. You play to WIN IT ALL not to have the best record and falter later just ask the Patriots and Suns management in the past. Worst case scenario, the Suns will at least get as far as they've gotten the previous 3 seasons.

 

which reminds me of Dream to toronto and Patrick to Seattle

and I dont think the Suns will run much play for diesel.....who is on retire schedule day-to-day

 

Didnt think of that. Yeah it would have
Thats definitely one team Marion could have elevated. Now he'll try to elevate an even worse team.

Wade, Ricky Davis and Marion isnt that bad in athletic comparison either, though...

 

I get wanting to move marion. But shaq is not the guy to get them a ring. Based on their style, i'd rather have dealt him for okafor, gasol or dalembert. all 3 athletic guys who can help them in the interior as much as the washed up diesel.

 

I think that Riley has worn out his players, similar to what JVG did here. The disciplinarian can pull off short term results, but its hard to do it year after year.

IMHO, Shaq will have a rebirth, and get healthy in Phoenix.

Geez, they could start Diaw, and hold Shaq for the playoffs. I always thought Phoenix was built for the regular season, but not for the playoffs, but this changes everything ... even if its only for one year.

 

If you think Gasol has a better chance at bringing the Suns a championship than Shaq pass me some of what you are smoking. And Gasol better at checking Duncan than Shaq? LOL