The Miami Heat's season has come to this: Shaquille O'Neal may be on the trading block.
Citing two sources close to the situation, the Miami Herald reported on Tuesday that the team has told the center that he should be prepared for a possible deal.
The Herald goes on to report that a trade of O'Neal to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks has been discussed. One of O'Neal's representatives told the newspaper that they were informed that talks with Phoenix were ongoing and serious.
I realize Marion probably still wants out, but the Suns would be completely bonkers if they make this trade. Why would you trade Marion in his prime and get back a rapidly aging, injury-prone Shaq? And to play him behind Amare would make Shaq the highest-paid backup in the league. Is it really worth it?
(edited by It's False on 5.2.08 1656)
Don't mess with Superman Prime or he'll kill you to death!
I realize Marion probably still wants out, but the Suns would be completely bonkers if they make this trade. Why would you trade Marion in his prime and get back a rapidly aging, injury-prone Shaq? And to play him behind Amare would make Shaq the highest-paid backup in the league. Is it really worth it?
(edited by It's False on 5.2.08 1656)
It is a bad idea for the Suns to go after Shaq but they have zippo rings to his four, so that may be influencing them. I say it's a bad idea to bother with Shaq not because of his stats (he still can be a decent presence under the rim if used rightly), but because of his salary. I thought that was what got the heat in a bad position in the first place. I don't know the details of Shaq's contract, but I remember hearing on ESPN that because of it, the heat couldn't afford to keep valuable position players like Antoine Walker and that's the cause of their horrid season this year.
No longer confident they can win a championship with their current roster, the Phoenix Suns are close to completing a blockbuster trade that will bring them Shaquille O'Neal, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said Tuesday.
O'Neal is scheduled to travel to Phoenix aboard a private plane Wednesday and undergo an MRI on his left hip, the source said. If he passes the physical, the Suns are expected to send Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat.
Can I just say, as a Lakers fan, I'm ecstatic about this trade! Can we have another Lakers/Suns first-round matchup? Because I can guarantee the result won't be the same as in the last two years.
And on a much lighter note, let's all point and laugh at Shawn Marion. Here's a guy who threw a fit last summer at the idea of getting traded to the Celtics because he didn't want to be on a loser squad. Six months later, the Celtics have the best record in the league and Shawn Marion ends up on a loser squad anyway. Have fun in Miami!
Don't mess with Superman Prime or he'll kill you to death!
I feel like I just woke up in the twilight zone. How is this good for anybody? Does Amare play PF now? Please don't tell me you have a $30 million dollar man coming off the bench. I understand the Lakers have Gasol, but was this really necessary? And on the Heat side of things, I fail to see this helping or hurting all that much. They're just in pathetic shape right now.
The Suns run a 4 man fast break so that would leave Shaq to hang back and play defense. Also, in a half court game, Shaq will take over as Center and leave Amare at PF where he will school everyone not named Tim Duncan. I think this is a great deal for the Suns (if Shaq stays healthy) because Shaq brings leadership and he is not the Shaq of old where he NEEDS the ball. What he wants is a ring and he will be highly motivated to get his 5th. Good deal, and if Marion opts out, he can resign with the Suns next year if he so misses Nash.
"Marriage is like that show ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’, but it’s not funny. All the problems are the same, but you know instead of all the funny, pithy dialogue, everybody is really pissed off and tense. Marriage is like a tense, unfunny version of 'Everybody Loves Raymond', only it doesn't last 22 minutes. It lasts forever."
I am not in favor of this trade at all, but here are some the arguments being made here (in Phx):
1. Financially, it is not bad. Remember, we get rid of Marcus Banks, so, for this year and next year, the Suns actually save about $1 million per (assuming Mario does not opt out, and if he does, he won't get $17 million).
2. Amare is said to be ecstatic about not playing center anymore.
3. Supposedly, Nash was asked his opinion and is ok with it.
4. The chemistry has gotten very bad in the locker room, and either Marion or Amare had to go.
5. They were (a) suddenly petrified of playing a Lakers front line of Gasol, Bynum and Odom, and (b) cutting off the Mavericks who were trying to trade for Shaq for the same reason as (a)
With all that said, I still don't like the trade, IF Shaq can be healthy and motivated, it may help in the playoffs, but I see the Suns falling into the lower seeds while trying to adjust, meaning we will probably have to go on the road and beat both the Spurs and Mavs to get to the finals.
If they were going to do this, they should have done it for Garnett in the summer when they had a chance.
You wanted the best, you got... Out of Context Quote of the Week.
"Jesus Christ, he's got a fucking Sherman tank between the legs." (Cerebus)
Apparently Marion had a touch of Johnson's Lurgy, where he'd rather be the guy, even if the team sucks. So now he gets to be the guy, on a team that sucks, the Suns dump Marcus Banks off, and everyone'll have either opted out or retired in a couple years anyways. In a bizarre way, the trade almost makes sense.
Originally posted by drjayphdApparently Marion had a touch of Johnson's Lurgy, where he'd rather be the guy, even if the team sucks. So now he gets to be the guy, on a team that sucks, the Suns dump Marcus Banks off, and everyone'll have either opted out or retired in a couple years anyways. In a bizarre way, the trade almost makes sense.
Unless you're figuring Marion to be somewhere else, I fail to see how he gets to be THE guy on a team with Wade on it.
I don't think the Suns really cared if he got to be the guy or not, they just didn't want to deal with his attitude anymore. I still don't think they got fair trade for him considering they gave Kurt Thomas away to start the year because he was making 8 or 9 million and was doing pretty much the same thing Shaq is going to do.
You wanted the best, you got... Out of Context Quote of the Week.
"Jesus Christ, he's got a fucking Sherman tank between the legs." (Cerebus)
Originally posted by spf
Originally posted by drjayphdApparently Marion had a touch of Johnson's Lurgy, where he'd rather be the guy, even if the team sucks. So now he gets to be the guy, on a team that sucks, the Suns dump Marcus Banks off, and everyone'll have either opted out or retired in a couple years anyways. In a bizarre way, the trade almost makes sense.
Unless you're figuring Marion to be somewhere else, I fail to see how he gets to be THE guy on a team with Wade on it.
Well, now he's better than the #3 or 4 option. I did say this trade made sense in a bizarre way. Either way, the Heat unloads Shaq's contract, the Suns get rid of Marion's whining and Banks's... everything, so both teams get what they want.
I watched the press conference and had to LOL when Shaq said "Just because you haven't seen me do it (run the floor) doesn't mean I can't. I love to run".
Originally posted by BullittHow do they replay that Miami-Atlanta game with Shaq in Phoenix now?? :)
Apparently they're just going to play it out as planned before, although some people think it makes no sense now since Shaq won't be around (and his mistaken fouling out was the cause for the replay in the first place). It's important to note, though, that Marion and Banks are ineligible to play in the replay.
I'd say this became a no lose trade for the Suns the instant that Marion said he'd be glad to go from a contender to a team counting ping-pong balls. At that point, he's useless. If Shaq has anything left, that means no one can double him or Amare, and if he decides to defensive rebound, he can just ignite the break and stay back, like Kareem did at the end of his career. If Shaq is completely shot, then, they can just trade him to the Knicks in the off-season, who will probably give Shaq a contract extension in the process. Miami could have kept guys, it was that they didn't want to pay the luxury tax that caused them to allow Posey to go to Boston etc.
Stop kicking us Knick fans when we are down! We all know there is a chance Shaq comes here if his body falls apart. We do not need to be reminded by bitter Patriots fans that are still pissed about the Giants win :)
"Marriage is like that show ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’, but it’s not funny. All the problems are the same, but you know instead of all the funny, pithy dialogue, everybody is really pissed off and tense. Marriage is like a tense, unfunny version of 'Everybody Loves Raymond', only it doesn't last 22 minutes. It lasts forever."
Stop kicking us Knick fans when we are down! We all know there is a chance Shaq comes here if his body falls apart. We do not need to be reminded by bitter Patriots fans that are still pissed about the Giants win :)
Here is the minor problem with that: I'm a Giants fan. Now, back to my quest. What quest is that? The quest I have every night: To steal Walt 'Clyde' Frazier's thesaurus and leave him with no vocabulary.