Revisit Marion-Shaq Trade

The trade is only worth it IF the Suns win a championship this year. Shaq is going to get worse faster and faster. From the pure value point of view, Shaq's contract is atrocious. No GM would want to take on that. The only reason they made the gamble is they want to win THIS YEAR, or maybe next.

I guess their reasoning is that Nash's prime is closing fast too. And Nash is the only hope for them to win it all. So they figured they were going to rebuild in a couple of years anyway.

To me, with Marion, they were already good enough to contend. Getting Shaq strengthens them in one way but weakens them in another. It doesn't make them a better team overall. But getting Shaq will ultimately make their post-Nash rebuilding process much harder.

 

Shaq's contract comes off in two years. Heck maybe the year after next his contract becomes valuable.

 

shawn marion is kinda stupid on his part...why did he request a trade??

this could've been their year...

 

but do remember...that shaq and stoudemire were the only ppl killing us when we beat them a few weeks ago...i don't think shawn marion would've done the same...

 

Mavs and Suns are no longer the Mavs and Suns of old. Their boneheaded trades made them weaker. Hornets and Lakers have taken their place.

 

I still don't think they would've had any better of a shot with Marion. No matter what moves the Suns make, it has no bearing on how good the other teams are unless you're talking match-ups. Even then, they match up better with sizable teams who do well year after year. Small ball was a marketing ploy, if not a failed strategy for winning.

I think watching Shaq on that team is more fun anyway. With him comes at least the belief that they can win against bigger rebounding teams. Game one was such a crapshoot. Duncan for three? C'mon. If Hakeem's three at the end of the game in the finals actually impacted the result of the game I'd have felt the same way.

 

It's not about having a better shot with Marion..it's about getting a player in return for Marion that gives them that better shot and Shaq was never and still isn't that player. If Kerr wanted to counter Duncan and put up a good matchup against the Spurs, he should have made a deal for Garnett in the offseason or made a deal for Gasol before Kupchak stole him away from Memphis. Either player would benefit Phoenix a lot more than O'Neal would/has.

I'll say this time and time again: they traded the wrong power forward. Case in point: Stoudemire's disappearing act in the crucial 3rd quarter tonight.

 

I think Garnett would because of his defense, but Gasol not so much....since he and Marion average roughly the same amount of points and Matrix is much better defender and rebounder than Gasol.

Garnett could really neutralize Duncan and give the Suns the extra dimension, Gasol not so sure about.

 

At the same token, couldn't Phoenix have gotten Gasol without given up Marion, since the Lakers gave up absolute garbage for him.

 

I find it ironic that the one weapon that Suns brought in finally take them over the Spurs has actually been turned against them.

Spurs are going right at Shaq. Tony Parker and Ginobolli just keep attacking Shaq on pick and roll. When they are not in game, they just put Shaq at the free throw line. Shaq's inability to hit free throws and his poor defense has been a factor in every single game so far.

 

I think that was more of a favor by Jerry West (Memphis GM) to his old team. Very similar to Kevin McHale dealing KG to Boston.

 

If they brought in Shaq in order to beat the Spurs, they were wrong. The only thing Shaq is good at now is to bully smaller interior players. He's not gonna bully the Spurs, that's for sure.

 

A) West is gone, and Chris Wallace was the exec behind it. Wallace is a "yes-man" who does whatever the owner wants---in this case, getting rid of salaried players and increasing the team's sale value. The Grizzlies could've gotten Luol Deng and Ben Wallace---but so what, from the owner's point of view?
B) KG to Boston had nothing to do with McHale's Celtic history, unless you really believe that Andrew Bynum can hold Al Jefferson's (forty-point game this season) jock, and would rather have Kwame Brown than Ryan Gomes.

 

Some Laker fans and media personalities believe that, while Al Jefferson is legit 20 and 10 player, while Bynum had a few flashes of 20-10 and both players are about the same age. Jefferson is much better player than Bynum.

 

I think, it is Nash, not Shaq. Nash is not at MVP level anymore, he is old.

Nash and the suns passed their peak. Simple and plain.

 

that or their running game went downhill when a insane running athletic freak was traded for an over the hill no freethrow shooting "fat cactus"

 

Marion might have some influence, but I think the basic reason is Nash.

Parker is playing so well in this series. I think it is not only because Nash's defense is bad (you might say Shaq's PnR defense is bad, but Nash cannot avoid responsibility), but also because his offense does not give Parker pressure.

 

the idea that shaq could guard duncan better than marion is not panning out. I remember the first thing I thought was "no more MARION? YAO WILL OWN THE SUNS!"

 

With Marion, the runs still would lose to the spurs.

They shouldn't trade Tomas to the sonics. I think they should have traded Marion + Tomas for Shaq. Without Tomas, at least, the spurs wouldn't win the 1st game.