Why The Suns Trading For Shaquille O’neal Was A Good Idea
February 6th, 2008 . by Dell
Everywhere I turn, people are puzzled and/or enraged about the Phoenix Suns trading away Marion for Shaq. The general consensus among professional analysts and bloggers alike is that Shaq is simply too old, slow, and broken down to fit in with a fast athletic team. Quite frankly, it’s hard to argue with those points, but i believe Shaq is a risk that just might pay off. Let’s consider a few things….
1. First off, the obvious plus of this trade is that Marion didn’t want to be in Phoenix, the Suns passed up their chance to offload him earlier and he was probably going to opt out as soon as possible.
2. The old way of Phoenix Suns basketball DIDN’T WORK in the playoffs. In the past few years, the Suns have ran up and down the floor in the regular season, wowing the crowds and sometimes overwhelming their opponents. Remember when they won a whopping 61 games in the 2006-2007 season?
Did they win the championship? NO
But wait, did they even get to the finals? NO
The year before that, they won 54 games and were the second seed in the playoffs. Guess what? no NBA finals.
The Suns picked up Shaq for the very same reason the Golden State Warriors picked up Chris Webber, that run and gun shit doesn’t work deep in the playoffs. You’re either going to run into a defensive powerhouse who will lock you down, or a team with dominant big men who will exploit you in the middle.
3. Of course picking up Shaq is risky as all hell, he could ruin team chemistry and be a lumbering oaf for the rest of the year. But when you consider the alternative, it really isn’t all that bad. The Suns weren’t going to go deep in the playoffs using the exact plan that has failed them the last three years anyways. Why not shake things up and give yourself a chance to do something different in the post season?
I guarantee you Tim Duncan is not happy about this trade, whatever he may say to the media. I don’t care how old Shaq is.
Lastly, let’s consider how Shaq reacts in situations like these. The Suns can let his massive ego work against their opponents. He’s going to want to come out and show The Miami Heat, along with the rest of the league that he’s not washed up.
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Sorry dude, but this is an absolutely abysmal trade.
The premise that ‘what-the-Suns-were-doing-doesn’t-work’ is ultimately a flawed one. If not for a Robert Horry hip-check, the Suns beat the Spurs, and probably the title.
The Shaq you’re discussing existed 3 years ago, and went to Miami with a chip on his shoulder the size of California. The Shaq that Phoenix has acquired is a mere shell of himself. Aging, over-weight, under-played, out-of-shape…
The only similarity this has with the Gasol-to-Lakers trade is the absolute theft performed by Miami.
Shaq’s been taking at least 30 of the seasons he’s played off the last 10 years and still managed to win 4 championships. With this team he doesn’t have to do much but rebound and protect the middle. Which I think he’ll do well enough for Phoenix to go deeeeep in the playoffs this year. There are a lot of reasons Miami is in the shithole this and Shaq’s supposed decline isn’t the only reason.
I meant to post 30% of the seasons. I fucked up my sports hyperbole.
I was one of the doubters of this trade, but what you said makes sense. PHX has to do something to survive in the playoffs. I dont think it’s going to be as bad as people think.
Don,
I’m not buying that Robert Horry thing. The suns have a history of coming up short in the playoffs. I can’t give them the NBA title just because steve nash got knicked up.
When the pieces you have in place fail time and time again, then its your job to acquire new ones. Banging your head against the wall repeatedly gets tiresome after a while.
While I’ll agree he trade has it’s pluses (the biggest being Phoenix finally has a real big man, something they sorely need), ultimately it was a bad move.
Unfortunately, Phoenix didn’t have a lot of options. Marion was leaving for sure, so they had to trade him or risk getting nothing for him. The options for trading Marion seemed to include Kirilenko or some bits and pieces from teams trying to rebuild. In that light, trading for Shaq probably made a lot of sense.
The downside, and it’s a big downside, is that Shaq will still be getting paid $20million a year two seasons from now, even though he’ll be too old to contribute. He’ll be an anchor on the team’s salary cap, and force them into a complete rebuild.
However, if Shaq gets Phoenix the championship, no one will probably care about any of that…
Horrible trade considering two weeks ago they could have had Pau Gasol.
I’m going to concur with your article. Well said.
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