NBA Roundup Vol. 8

Time for the latest volume of the roundup. This week it's all Shaq all the time as we break down the big trade!!

Another Big Trade!!

I will never again question the tradeability of anyone in the NBA. It seems that every time someone's contract looks so bad that no one in their right mind would think about taking it on, somebody does. After seeing Shaq get traded to Phoenix, which NOBODY saw coming, I will never doubt again. The man has two years and $40 million left on his deal after this season. Who on earth would want to be stuck with that, considering that we're talking about an old Shaq and not the MVP-level Shaq of just a few seasons ago. He has long passed the point of diminishing returns but is getting paid more than almost everyone in the league. And for the Phoenix Suns, a team that has been giving away draft picks and players for almost nothing just to avoid the luxury tax, to be the trading partners is even more mind-boggling. They've given away the draft rights to Luol Deng and Rajon Rondo for cash and second round picks, and traded away Kurt Thomas for second round picks, all so they wouldn't have to fool with the luxury tax. It's been widely assumed that if $17 million man Shawn Marion opted out of the last year of his deal, the Suns would probably let him go rather than give him a salary bump. That totally disqualified them from ever doing anything like this. But lo and behold, they found a way to make it happen. In a desperate push to add some talent to their team for the postseason, they acquired the big guy and his bloated contract. There's only one problem, though. They had to give up Marion (and backup guard Marcus Banks) to do it. I don't think I'd have gone there.

Now I understand the rationalizations that led Suns GM Steve Kerr to make the trade. First off, the Suns have been following their usual path of regular season dominance which usually results in 55 to 60 wins and a playoff defeat at the hands of whoever ends up in the NBA Finals. They've been to that movie three times now and don't want to make it a fourth. With Steve Nash approaching NBA AARP age, the window of opportunity is closing very rapidly for them, so it's better to make a big move now than to wait another year. OK, fine. Second, the Lakers just made a huge move by trading for Pau Gasol. So now the Suns had to worry about being able to win the division, which hadn't been problem before. The possibility of finishing second and then having to play the Spurs or Mavericks in the first round became very real, and they wanted no part of that. They'd already been locked in a death match with the Lakers for the division crown, but Andrew Bynum's injury meant that a slide was likely and the Suns could breathe a little easier. Not any more, thanks to Gasol. So again, a move was needed to keep up with Lakers. And finally, there was the Shawn Marion issue. An All-Star who was a few months away from possibly leaving town for no compensation was not something they wanted to deal with, so they had to move him now so they could get something in return. Again, I understand.

Now all that being said, the move they did make was dead wrong. First off, we need to go back to this summer. The Suns more or less gave away Kurt Thomas to Seattle for some second round picks. They might as well have traded Kurt for me; it would have cost them the same amount of money, which is none at all. Everyone knows their big problem has been interior defense, and Thomas can provide plenty of that. They had Kurt for two years, and in each year they were unable to have both he and Amare Stoudemire on the floor when it mattered. The first year both men were out with injuries come playoff time, and last year Stoudemire was suspended for the series turning game five against the Spurs. This season both men have been healthy on their respective teams, so it could have finally come to fruition. Right now Thomas is a better interior defender than Shaq, rebounds better, and makes much less money ($8 million vs., $20 million for Shaq). Keeping him, which would have also meant being to hang on to Marion, would have made more sense than giving him away, then giving up Marion to get Shaq. For all intents and purposes, this was a trade of Thomas and Marion for Shaq, which is a net loser for the Suns.