Shaq may be traded to the Suns

[cboy4]

WOW




By TIM REYNOLDS, AP Sports Writer

MIAMI - Shaquille O'Neal is prepared for the Miami Heat to trade him, a confidant of the 14-time All-Star told The Associated Press on Tuesday night, and the Phoenix Suns were poised to deal two players for the center.

O'Neal's associate, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to reveal anything publicly, indicated a move could be imminent.

"Shaq thinks something will happen," the associate said.

It could be happening soon.

O'Neal was planning to be in Phoenix on Wednesday, which, according to several reports, is when the Suns plan to have him take a physical — presumably the final roadblock before the deal that will send Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Miami gets finalized.

The Miami Herald reported earlier Tuesday that the Heat were in "serious and ongoing" trade negotiations with the Suns, and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel said the deal could occur "within 48 hours." The Arizona Republic also reported a deal could be imminent and that O'Neal had contacted some Suns players Tuesday night.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080206/ap_on_sp_bk_ne/bkn_heat_o_neal_25

[HuskerDU]

1. Won't that just slow 'em down?

Guess the Gasol trade must've worried 'em.

[BulletproofLandshark]

2. The Heat just pulled the heist of the season.

Unloading an overweight, chronically injured, past-his-prime player for one of the best all around players in the league was just amazing to me.

[erpowers]

4. Still The Lakers

I think the Lakers have still pulled off the heist of the season. They got Pau Gasol while giving up very little.

[Ptah]

3. I think this will improve the Suns' chemistry.

There was some significant conflict between Stoudemire and Marion.

[Tektonik]

5. A halfcourt slug will definitely help their fastbreak chemistry

:eyes:

If Shaq can get healthy, they may have what it takes for a title shot, but that's a big if. I still like the Spurs and the Lakers better than the Suns. :shrug:

[THUNDER HANDS]

6. shaq is done

he should have retired after they won the championship.

[hughee99]

7. Now Shaq can NOT play in Phoenix instead of NOT playing in Miami.

A steal for the Heat.

[Drum]

8. from SI.com:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/basketball/nba/02/06/shaq.trade.ap/index.html?eref=T1

Suns acquire Shaq

Phoenix sends Marion to Miami in a stunning trade

PHOENIX (AP) -- The Phoenix Suns acquired Shaquille O'Neal in a stunning, blockbuster deal that sent four-time All-Star Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat.

The improbable pairing of the speedy Suns and the slow but once-mighty O'Neal became official when he cleared a physical exam Wednesday.

O'Neal didn't talk to reporters, but he received a loud, long standing ovation when introduced on the big screen while watching the New Orleans-Phoenix game from a suite at US Airways Center on Wednesday night.

-snip-

The trade, a dramatic move by first-year Phoenix general manager Steve Kerr, signals an unexpected change in philosophy for the Suns, adding a 7-foot-1, 325-pound center who has won four NBA championships but has been plagued by injuries in recent years and turns 36 next month.




also this:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/marty_burns/02/06/suns.trade/index.html

Risky Business

"Talk about a head-scratcher of a trade, writes SI.com's Marty Burns. The West-leading Suns have pulled off a stunner, acquiring Shaquille O'Neal from Miami for forward Shawn Marion."


see also http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/

[PDittie]

9. Learned some things I didn't know

about this trade.

-- Marion was increasingly pushing himself out after nixing the deal that would have sent him to Boston (and Kevin Garnett to the Suns) last year. He was turning into locker room and even on-court cancer:

They had been shopping forward Shawn Marion for months and had gone long past believing they would be a stronger team without him in the locker room. ... Here was a player as unique as any in the league, assigned to defend the Spurs’ Tony Parker one night in the playoffs and Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki another. Marion was the highest-paid player on the Suns, but wanted an extension past next season that management wouldn’t do. Over the summer, he demanded a trade, but killed a deal that would’ve sent him to the Celtics and Garnett to the Suns.

Always, he was needy for attention, for credit, and he constantly sulked over slights real and imagined.

Yet now, what does it tell you that he is relieved to be leaving Phoenix for the Heat, the worst team in the league? How bad had it gotten between Marion and his teammates? One Hornets player remembered the last time the two teams played, Marion was griping out loud about Nash’s failure to deliver him the basketball.

Between Stoudemire and Marion there was endless friction. Marion was constantly fighting Stoudemire for star status. Stoudemire did the scoring, made the All-Stars and Marion was made to the dirty work of defending. More and more, the Suns worried that Nash had to spend too much time den-mothering these two on issues. In the end, there was so much jealousy within these Suns, so much smoldering beneath the surface.

--Apparently the Phoenix medical staff, the most highly regarded in the NBA, believes they can get -- and keep -- the Diesel well:

They have to believe Shaq can stay on the floor, and that’s where most people are dubious of this trade. Still, the Suns believe this: If Shaq wasn’t motivated to stay with his rehab and take care of his body on a horrid Heat team, he would be while chasing a championships with the Suns. Kerr insist the Suns doctors – considered the benchmark staff in the sport – are sold that they have a rehab remedy for Shaq’s troublesome hip to work him back into shape.

“He’s going to make dramatic improvement with us,” the two doctors told Kerr, and that carries credibility with the Suns basketball people. Before the Suns signed Nash, Hill and Antonio McDyess with serious past injuries, the medical staff assured them that they could keep these players healthy.

-- Lastly, they don't think he needs to run the floor:

(GM Steve Kerr and coach Mike D'Antoni) took it to the players, and Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire were unblinking: Get him. For the Suns, they believed they could incorporate Shaq into the system. “If he gets a rebound and passes, we’re gone,” D’Antoni said. “He doesn’t have to catch up with us.”

It still strikes me as a huge gamble, but makes a little more sense after reading this.