The Phoenix Suns send Shawn Marion (and Marcus Banks) to Miami for Shaq. Wow. I actually think that this is going to work for the Suns. I talked to someone inside the Suns organization (via a friend of a friend) today and whatever chemistry problems the Suns may have right now even though they are atop the Western Conference record-wise, seems to have been Marion and Banks related. If that's true, then good riddance to Shawn, who was going to leave after next season anyway.
And now this potentially gives us the chance to watch defenses freak out as they try to decide whether to guard Shaq, Amare, or stay home on Bell, Hill, or Nash. Yummy! We just need Shaq to be healthy for the last half of the season to get a feel for whether or not he can run or will need a walker...
In the end, I wish that Marion had felt more appreciated, because he was a great asset to the Suns for a number of years. He will be missed to a point, but once someone goes down the road of not feeling appreciated, it is almost impossible to bring them back over to the other side. Any effort in that category ends up not being enough. And as bad theoretically as Shaq has been this year thru injury, his stats are very similar lines when side by side with Marion, particularly points and rebounds.
And my final thought on this trade is this: When it comes to fan based sports, Seinfeld was right: In the end, we're all just rooting for laundry. Go Suns Jerseys!
