Shaquille O Neal traded to Phoenix

[Snowman]

as reported from ESPN, in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.

O' Neal is flying to Phoenix tuesday to take his physical.



of course Miami is getting the better end of the deal. unless Shaq can turn it around and have a great 2nd half of a season. which i doubt will happen

 

[S O F I]

I think both teams are benefiting. The Suns felt that they needed to get bigger following the Gausol trade and thats what they're getting. Downside is, shaq's HUGE contract and diminishing physical condition. And of course, Shawn Marion and D-wade? Hell yes.

 

[The.Menace]

I read it's only a rumor and not done yet. I HOPE it's not true. I don't understand what the Suns want with Shaq, sorry - esp. after THIS season. I dunno. I mean, I'm confused and shocked and .... god damn it.

 

[ARon]

If the trade does go down, which I haven't heard it has either, I think Shaq himself will benefit the most. I think he understands he isn't the player he once was and is still being plagued by injuries. He wants a ring for the thumb and sees it happening in Phoenix probably. It will probably wake him up a little. Still Marion and Wade should be tough to deal with. It's a pretty even trade.

 

[The.Menace]

it's not a even trade, if it happens. The Suns offense doesn't work with Shaq in my opinion, Marion is a huge part of that fastbreak....and Shaq would goin to slow down things too. Marions Defense would be missed as well. The suns have the best record in the west right now. They were two suspensions away from the finals. Why break this team up?

 

[The.Menace]

So it's official. damn.

O’Neal keeps the Suns from having to double-team opposing Western Conference big men like Tim Duncan and Andrew Bynum

BS. I mean, come on. I saw a couple of heat games and Shaq is just slow at his age. His Defense sucks. Tim Duncan is going 2 destroy shaq. Gasol, the new laker, is too quick for Shaq. And without marion, who's gonna guard Dirk or Melo or these guys? I don't get it.

 

[ARon]

When asked about him slowing down the ofeense Steve Kerr said they had Kurt Thomas, who was also slow, he would get the rebound and pass up to the guys already running, it makes sense. The Suns have tried to fastbreak for years and it hasn't worked yet, it gets them wins but not to the holy land. Menace it was the West Finals not the NBA Finals they were close to going too. They would of had to beat Utah if they had gotten though the Spurs. The Suns beat the Lakers last year in the playoffs, unfortunately. But anyway if you look at the Suns their middle is where they were hurt the most, Amare needs help and Shaw willl probably do it. The main reason Suns fans should be worried is his age and health, not if they can run the fast break with him on the floor.

 

[hizzle?]

^^^Lol @ Shaw. I just imagined Brian Shaw playing in the post against Yao.

Anyways, I think that it's an okay trade. If their fastbreak doesn't work, they just throw the ball in to Shaq or Amare... The other defenses can't double-team Amare all the time now because then Shaq will be open. Even if he isn't the fat ass bulldozer that he used to be, he can still do the Black Tornado and dunk the ball...

 

[Bobby Sands]

What age is he now?

 

[tHuG $TyLe]

35.

Wtf why would Phoenix want him in the team..

 

[Bobby Sands]

Phoenix Suns were the team i supported when i used to watch basketball, back when Charles Barkley was playing for them.

 

[S O F I]

The Suns are trying to win a championship with this trade.

 

[The.Menace]

Menace it was the West Finals not the NBA Finals they were close to going too

After the spurs, who you think would have stopped them? The Cavs?

Anyway, Shaq is going to hurt them on the defensiv end. In Miami he was in foul trouble all year long cause he's too slow. And the west has far better bigs than the east. We'll see in a couple of weeks who's right.....

 

[ARon]

They would of had to face Utah, who is no slouch to say the least.

I'm not saying it's gonna work, it all depends on how Shaq reacts. He can either play like he can, the Shaq that isn't plagued by injuries, or play like an old man. If he plays like he can there isn't much that will stop the Suns. The East bigs are much quicker than say Tim Duncan or Yao Ming so him being slow I don't think will matter that much. Then again, besides his first 5 years or so he wasn't that much of a defensive presence, so I don't think the Suns are getting him for defensive help anyway. To me it seemed like the suns were dormant, getting to the same place every year. They are taking the chance to see if this will put them over the top, but yeah we'll see if it works in a couple weeks.

 

[roaches]

They're not thinking about Gasol (or not as much as they already were about Bynum, Duncan...) they're thinking about getting a ring before Nash gets too old. The trade makes sense but I don't think it'll be enough to push them to the Finals this year. If Shaq somehow starts balling like he was at his peak (which would be funny as shit), maybe, but I doubt he can turn it on even to the level he was at when the Heat won, and even that won't be good enough in the west right now. This year's playoffs will probably be more interesting than March Madness, though.

 

[ARon]

If Shaq somehow starts balling like he was at his peak (which would be funny as shit),

I have no idea why but reading that has me laughing, can you imagine him going Blue Chips on us and shit, oh that would be crazy.

 

[The.Menace]

They would of had to face Utah, who is no slouch to say the least.

I don't think they would have stopped these suns, but well that's speculation and since the old suns teams is gone, we don't need 2 discuss that...

Of course, if shaq suddenly plays like his old me ...... well, I just think he's no longer able to, cause of his age. He didn't play well the last two seasons in Miami, I don't think he has enough left for what he's asked to do. The suns say they got Shaq so they don't have 2 doubleteam the post no more. Like I said before, he played so bad defense the last two years, I just don't see it happening.... now. But well, only time will tell. But I think losing Marion and add Shaq won't make the Suns D any better. Who's gonna guard Dirk, Tim, Paul G., Melo, Carlos? Diaw or Shaq. Diaw is too small to defend the post 48 minutes against TD. And Shaq is too slow for all of them. So I really don't know how they expect to defend the post. The got Amare, but besides that I see a lot of troubles. U can play Amare against TD and Carlos, Dirk is too special for amare, Marion used to defend him. Melo is too strong for Bell, too quick for Amare. I see troubles for the Suns on the defensive end. Maybe I'm wrong or underestimate a suns player/and or the need for them to play defense (they still got a lot of offense left), but well..... only time will tell.

 

[SicC]

There taking a HUGE risk on a player a shell of what he used to be. Not to mention they picked him up while he is still injured.

The real question is this...is his hip going to heal properly? If not how useful will shaq really be, his mobility is already hampered by his weight and age and now u add in a hip problem and it could potentially spell the end of one of the most dominate forces in the game the last 14 years. He is also a terrible screen and role option and seeing as the suns use the screen and role on offense when there in there half court set leads me to think studamire will be stepping out to set those while shaq parks his huge ass in the lane awaiting a pretty assist from nash as he breaks down the teams defense so shaq can get a few thunderous dunks in to hype up the crowd and hype up his over inflated ego. Another concern is his defense, tim Duncan, Gasol, Bynum can easly outmaneuver his enormous ass and stoudamire is already known for his exceptionally poor defense which leads most to think that the suns may be actually getting worse on the defensive end by trading away marion who could easily guard the 1- 4 (sometimes the 5 spot if it was a very small center) spots and was there best defender on there team, of course they have barbosa but he is only one man and he will be spending his time on the two guard mostly or a point guard and sometimes small forward. Yes I know shaq can change a shot, but shaq has also been in foul trouble 90% of the games he has played this season since he has no mobility and reaches for blocks instead of moving his feet to get into position to block it.

Upside could be he plays decently giving them 14 points and 7 boards a game and clogging up the middle and commanding a double team from time to time opening up the suns already deadly three point specialist. Probability of that happening doesn’t seem very likely but who knows until he laces it up and shows us all what he has left.


pz

 

[The.Menace]

I agree with everything u said. And I still think the Suns basically traded their chances 2 win a ring away.

 

[ARon]

That won't be their fault though, Marion or Shaq, Lakers are gonna beat them anyway.