At first, it seemed strange that the rumors coming out of Phoenix might be true. Suns owner Robert Sarver has been getting adamant about the need to cut the costs of his team’s salary and Shaq has two years at $20 million apiece left on his contract. The Suns would be trading the $17 million of Shawn Marion’s contract and $4.1 million of Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat in return for Shaq, so this would actually save them this season, but Marion has an opt out for next season, while the Suns would be in for another $20 on Shaq next year, regardless.
Still, in the summer of 2010, when the contracts of both Steve Nash and Shaquilee O’Neal would be coming to an end, the Suns would gain $33 million in cap space. OK, that makes sense. They’ll have two seasons after this one to see if this combination of skill will bring a ring to the desert.
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On second thought, it seemed strange that the rumors coming out of Phoenix might be true. The Suns are leading the West, have a ton of home games coming up due to the road-heavy schedule they have been playing up to this point, could very well win 60+ games again this season - for the third in a row - and they have the best offensive efficiency in the entire NBA. What better time to ruin any chemistry and bring in an out-of-shape, injured, and past-his-prime former superstar who can’t run the fast break (or fast at all) and has a shooting percentage in the single digits when he is not standing directly under the net?
On third thought, it seemed strange that the rumors coming out of Phoenix might be true. Sure, they were upset at the Pau Gausol deal that the Lakers were able to convince the Grizz to allow - reminiscent of another deal made by a California team, the Chargers, when they were able to get an established star wide receiver named Chris Chambers from the haplessly run Miami Dolphins earlier this year. With Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Ronny Turiaf, the Lakers bringing in Gausol gives them such a possible advantage in the playoffs against the Suns, who have no big, physical players to match up.
And, rumor has it, the Dallas Mavericks were also getting very interested in trading for Shaq. As scared as the thought of Nowitzki, Josh Howard and Shaq on the Dallas courtside made, them, it was this that likely pushed the Suns to the brink of insanity.
Insanity? That may be a bit harsh. Let’s call it acute paranoia being expressed in the form of entirely unreasonable actions. Sort of like a phobia. Or keeping up with the Jones.
The Suns could have acknowledged the fact that yet another team in their conference could gain a better chance of beating them by making a trade and having the trade work out - both on the floor and in the locker room - in some other fashion than actually usurping Dallas and taking that trade themselves. It seems the Suns are so determined not to let another team gain a possible advantage that they are willing to disrupt their own chances in order to screw up the possibility of Dallas getting one.
If it comes out that Mark Cuban started the Dallas Trade rumors on purpose just to see how the Suns would react, I would not be surprised. He’s a wily one who would get a kick out of just this sort of fiasco in the desert.
Then again, he could be wrong.
By bringing in Shaq Daddy (This guy has more nicknames than anyone I know!) and switching Amare Stoudemire back to his natural power forward position, the Suns might actually be able to come out on top here. Of course, their fast-tempo game might be slowed down somewhat, but you don’t really need all five players running the fast break, either. When Shaq misses games to injuries, the Suns have confidence now in playing Boris Diaw next to Amare, and don’t feel their game would suffer tremendously. And they still have Steve Nash, of course.
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On fourth thought…who the heck knows what to think about this trade?? Some people think it could be smart, while many thought it was a joke. In the end, what it is is a gamble. A gamble that could pay off in the area where previous great Suns teams have failed…with a championship ring.
The Suns will have to change their style of play, but Diesel gives them the chance to keep most of the best parts of their game, while having at least the chance to improve on others (second-chance points, defending against bigger frontcourt players…).
If Shaq passes the physical, the West just got a lot wilder!
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