Shaq traded to Phx; Marion, banks to Miami

[LakersSquad]

Shaq is not gonna settle for just playing defense. Its not like him and he's not the rebounder that he was before. On top of that he's still injured and they need time to work him into their offense.

[MagicalMan]

Besides the obvious, considering how cheap the PHX owner was, Shaq's 20 mill with 2 yrs left is great for ownership... They saved money from having to resigning Marion and getting rid of Marcus Banks' insane contract... Its a win win... Cuz chances are Marion would of walked because they didnt wanna resign him... Now in 2 years after this season, they get 20mill in cap and that sets them up pretty well...

I like this deal for both teams... Shaq is what they might need to get over the top.

Will they be under the cap when Shaq's contract expires?

[BirdmanSO]

Mike & Mike On The Shaq Trade
http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx ... e2a362dbbf

ESPN News breaks down Shaq Trade
http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx ... 065a57e33d

Ric Bucher analysis of trade:
http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx ... 1a22d22acb

[Quiet-Storm]

None of the streams work for me. Both say "sorry an error has occurred, no stream found"

[Ballings7]

I'm telling you, Hill is injury prone. Shaq is injury prone. Now an injury to Shaq without Marion? lol. You guys just traded an iron man for a guy who regularly doesn't play.

Plus Bell.

This trade is bad for the Suns defensively. I read a lot of suns fans think Amare will thrive at his natural position of PF and that Shaq AND Amare in the front court is very formidable (potentially). The problem lies in fouls. Shaq is foul prone due to is decline in mobility. Amare had trouble guarding centers in the west, now he has to guard PF?! who, last time i checked, the west are more stacked at PF then they are at C. Given that, i don't think Amare and Shaq would play together all that often due to foul trouble. The Suns front court is going to invite penetration and that's where Amare and Shaq will really have problems. This isn't about the offense, Suns always had a great offense, the defense is what always kills them and this trade only makes them that much weaker. I can't say i really fear the Suns, even in the playoffs cause even then, Shaq's going to have to play a lot of good games for the Suns to win and I don't see that happening.

Well said.

Suns front court is going to invite penetration and that's where Amare and Shaq will really have problems.

Also with this, relates to the Suns high BPG ranking.

nash being able to pick between amare and shaq down low will be fun to watch. teams cant crash amare anymore.

But didn't matter anyway because Amare usually gets his. Which at times is part of the plan (Spurs series'). Shaq's noticably easier to defend than before, also.

I don't really see Shaq being healthy enough to contribute over the next two years I guess they just overreacted to the Lakers trade.

I'd sway to this, as well.

Now? Kobe, Lebron, Carmelo are going to absolutely light it up in Phoenix.

Which, they already did before. Just will only be more now, with one stand-out defender on the wings (Tucker and Strawberry aren't arriving yet as players). I will say Bell gave Kobe some consistent problems, though. But ultimately, of course isn't enough. I saw yesterday LeBron averages the most points against the Suns.

Second, I think the acquisition of Shaq means fewer possessions for the Phoenix Suns. You know Marion could get down the floor in 3-5 seconds and score well in transition. You know Marion could hit a 3 trailing the play. That's gone now.

Just from a system standpoint, how do you trade a guy that thrives in your system to a guy who has NEVER played in such a system?

It isn't just the defense on the interior where Phoenix is going to suffer. Shaq is notoriously lazy. Have you ever seen him on a screen a roll defense? He's TERRIBLE. SAS, LAL are going to have a field day bringing Shaq out to the perimeter and then using Shaq's laziness to create easy opportunities.

Oh and this is going to be disastrous for Nash. I'm telling you. His assist numbers are about to dip.

Basically agreed.

Also I think Marion gets more rebounds. So not only do you lose perimeter shooting, but you're still not going to be able to outboard SAS, LAL. It just ain't happening. Who besides Nash and Barbosa can be a constant threat beyond the arc?

They weren't out rebounding them before or going to before, either. Adding Dallas, Denver, Utah, NO into that as well. There is Bell for 3PT shooting, as well, I think he's gotten his shot back on track the last number of weeks. Amare's mid-range jumpshot will also be there. Still, just three point shooters.

The Suns 3PT shooting has been lessening by by bit since 2006. It just dropped off more. While there's still three significant players, the depth and strength of the 3PT shooting just isn't what it used to be.

This trade just proved that D'Antoni and Sarver has no confidence in Stoudamire playing the Center spot as well as the Phoenix run and gun system to beat the Spurs half-court grind it out style in the playoffs.

It wasn't favorable in the first place. The defense and versatility just wasn't there for them.

Everyone has been sying that the Suns cant win in the playoffs with the style of play they have so they changed it while putting them in a position to win now with two big time players in the post and a 2 time MVP getting them the ball.

But there's still another side of the court.

Amare's not going to get better defensively, and Shaq's a limited, inconsistent defender now. May well stay inconsistent too.

Then of course, there's Shaq's health, which isn't reliable (and he's getitng older). The motivation will be there to a degree, but the ability and availability needs to be there on a regular basis.

Neither are that strong of rebounders.

Shaq is also still one of the best passers in the game especially for a Center and will still comand a double team because of hs size.

Indeed.

Plus he gives them a big C who can man up to Duncan and Yao.

Mobility and fouls for Shaq, though.

But if Shaq can give the Suns what he gave the Heat 2 years ago ... lookout.

But that's not as likely to happen, as the lesser than the 2006 form is, or even worse.

This is the type of delusions people are having.

When Shaq was the MDE, he still wasn't working hard. When he was the best player in the league he wasn't working hard. What makes you think he's going to work harder now that he's lost some of his physical gifts?

Definitely legit. I don't think there will be a significant improvement with regularilty or something.

Shaq is not gonna settle for just playing defense. Its not like him and he's not the rebounder that he was before. On top of that he's still injured and they need time to work him into their offense.

Exactly.

[BirdmanSO]

None of the streams work for me. Both say "sorry an error has occurred, no stream found"

Thats because they were just created - it does that sometimes for a minute or two. It should work fine now.

[TheKingOfVa360]

People doubted this franchise many a time, but little did they realize who's running this thing, Riley.

He's built and rebuilt teams over here, time and time again. And he's seemingly done it again.

Yeah and now the Heat will make a push to the playoffs with a Wade and Marion core in the East There goes that high draft pick you Heat fans where hoping for.

[draft]

Marion was asking for a 20 mill/yr extension. The Suns were never going to give him that. It came down to whether you want Shaq or Marion at 20 mill/yr. At least with Shaq they have a chance at a championship.

[thamadkant]

Shaq is a 15/7 60% guy on a slow down offense.

In the Suns offense, it'll be interesting how they can manage to run without Marion, as he was their main runner/finisher.


But no doubt, that when things go half court, Shaq will contribute for the Suns...

The question is.... Will he play?..... he has missed so many games the last 2 seasons.

If not, Suns has the potential to miss the playoffs.

[CourtsideTV]

so now the suns are the retired all star team

shaq
amare
hill
barbosa
nash

[Harry Heinous]

^ the suit is hilarious

[Bankai]

Shaq cant run, so I dont really know how this is going to work. Unless PHX is willing to play half court, which wont work too well because they arent that good defensively as well. This could be bad for the Suns

[cucad8]

Is Marion really going to walk away from all that money? Where is he going to get anything close to that from?

Also, anyone else thinking, and I forget the trade rules, if it has to be by himself or what, but anyone else thinking Miami would turn around and possibly deal Marion? If they were already looking at tanking, or rebuilding, looking towards the future, are there expirings they can get, or young players and expirings? I don't know, but is Miami going to risk a chance at a good pick by bringing in Marion, and getting a few extra wins this year?

[Ballings7]

wow shawn marion the guy who guarded point guards to centers for the suns is gone. Who the hell is gonna defend kobe? ....tim duncan? Dirk is gonna go off on the suns and i think amare will be more in foul trouble because at center he only had yao ming to worry about in the west now he has to guard dirk, duncan, pau, and boozer.

Marion was put on multiple positions, but over-time the success was limited. Specifically was not against Duncan, Parker, Paul. Could defend Dirk effectively, but only to such an extent because the team and mind-set defensively was lacking around Marion. Since 2005 (when Dirk improved as a player), Dirk's destroyed Phoenix. Example being the 50/12 game in G5 in 2006 POs.

Amare's always gotten into foul trouble, now that is only increased with the PFs being better.

[rsavaj]

I've had a night to sleep on it, and I'm praying to God that Shaq fails his physical.

[risktaker91]

Rose/Wade/Marion

That's a pretty good Big three.

[magicfan4life05]

I've had a night to sleep on it, and I'm praying to God that Shaq fails his physical.

[magicfan4life05]

who is the man, that jam over any man? SHAQ!!

can you dig it?

[BirdmanSO]

Ric Bucher analysis of trade:
http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx ... 1a22d22acb

[NYKnick87]

To those people saying that Shaq not being able to run in their system isn't a concern as they will be using him in half court sets - Shaq wasn't particularly effective in half court sets with the Heat either.