In a move that could signify a dramatic change to their
go-go-go, let-it-fly style of play, the Phoenix Suns acquired
former All-Star center Shaquille O’Neal from the Miami Heat on
Wednesday for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.
A source with knowledge of the teams’ negotiations told Yahoo!
Sports on Tuesday that the Suns had agreed to the trade pending the
outcome of O’Neal’s physical. O’Neal passed the physical late
Wednesday afternoon in Phoenix to complete the blockbuster
deal.
The Miami Herald first reported the Suns and Heat were
in serious trade discussions involving O'Neal.
Frustrated by Miami's dramatic dropoff this season – the Heat
own the NBA's worst record at 9-37 – O'Neal had begun telling
teammates he wanted to be traded but never thought a deal would
come to fruition, a Heat source said.
The trade would represent a dramatic change for the Suns, whose
run-and-gun, small-ball style had revolutionized the league in
recent seasons. That same style, however, has failed to bring the
Suns a championship, and team officials have become increasingly
skeptical about their chances of contending without giving Amare
Stoudemire some help on the frontline – even though
Phoenix owns the Western Conference's best record at 34-14. While
praising recent improvement in Stoudemire's defense, Suns general
manager Steve Kerr said last week the team still was doing
Stoudemire a "disservice" by playing him at center instead of his
more natural power forward position.
While last week's loss to a San Antonio
Spurs team missing Tony Parker
again raised some doubts, it was the Los Angeles
Lakers' acquisition of forward Pau Gasol
from the Memphis
Grizzlies on Friday that ultimately spurred the Suns to
consider aggressively looking for another big man. League sources
said the Suns also had conversations about the Charlotte
Bobcats' Emeka
Okafor and the Philadelphia
76ers' Samuel
Dalembert in recent days, but that Miami initiated the
trade talks involving O'Neal.
O'Neal, 35, still is a physical presence but seems a poor fit
for Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni's up-tempo offense. He has already
missed 14 games this season and is sidelined with bursitis in his
left hip. Suns coaches, however, watched film of O'Neal on Tuesday,
the source said, and came away thinking O'Neal's strong passing
skills from the high post would work well in their half-court
schemes. The Suns also have shown increasingly more confidence in
playing forward Boris Diaw
next to Stoudemire and think that combination will suffice when
O'Neal isn't on the floor.
Phoenix doesn't expect O'Neal to keep pace with its transition
offense and plans to utilize him as an inbound and outlet passer.
His greatest contributions, the Suns hope, will come on the boards
and defense, two areas of Stoudemire's game that are lacking.
If completed, the trade will have huge financial ramifications
for the Suns. O'Neal has two years and $40 million left on his
contract after this season. Banks, who never has earned enough of
D'Antoni's trust to become a regular member of the team's rotation,
has three seasons and $13.7 million remaining on his deal. Marion
has one more season worth $17.8 million but can opt out of the
contract and become a free agent this summer.
The Suns have worked to avoid paying a hefty luxury-tax bill,
going so far as to trade center Kurt
Thomas, their best low-post defender, and two
first-round draft picks to Seattle in July just to get Thomas' $8
million salary off their payroll. Trading for O'Neal would give the
Suns a 2½-season window to challenge for a championship before the
contracts of O'Neal and soon-to-be 34-year-old point guard Steve Nash
both expire in the summer of 2010, removing more than $33 million
from the team's salary cap.
The Suns also have wanted to address chemistry problems in their
locker room. Marion long has felt he doesn't get the respect he
deserves – or at least not on par with that of Nash and Stoudemire
– and asked to be traded after Kerr turned down his request for a
three-year, $60 million extension shortly before the season.
Stoudemire also complained last month about not getting enough
shots.
The trade's benefits for the Heat are obvious: With this season
already lost, they get O'Neal's hefty contract off the books and
the chance to free up cap room if they don't sign Marion to an
extension. Banks also could become the point guard for which Miami
has been searching nearly all season.
News of the pending trade sent shockwaves through a Western
Conference landscape still shifting after Gasol's trade to the
Lakers. League executives were stunned the Suns even would
seriously contemplate such a move, let alone agree to it, given
O'Neal's declining production and enormous contract.
Two of Phoenix's biggest rivals, the Spurs and Dallas
Mavericks, now are adept at playing small because they
had to learn how to match up with the Suns. If the trade is
completed, the Suns, in a bizarre change of events, could find
themselves having to match down with some of their opponents.
Said one West executive: "I truly thought this was a joke."
good move for both teams... shaq needs a trade while marion wans
to leave sun too...