The Big Purple & Orange Aristotle

On my way home I heard a caller to the local sports talk radio station say that the Phoenix Suns should trade for Shaquille O'Neal. The two hosts laughed and derided the caller into radio purgatory for such a ridiculous suggestion. And then ... not more than 20 minutes later the news came across the wire that the Suns and the Miami Heat were talking trade: Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks would go from the Suns to the Heat for Shaq.
Many Suns fans are saying this would be the worst trade in franchise history. Why?

Shaq is old by NBA standards, almost 36 with many miles and battles on his 7-foot, 350+ lb. frame. He is injury prone, missing many games this season and last. He is big and slow, and would disrupt the Suns' run-n-gun style of play. He is due the remainder of his $20 million salary this year, another $20 mil next year, and another $20 mil the following year. And many Suns fans love Shawn Marrion and what he has done for the team during his nine year career. The Matrix is a key part of the teams' success in recent years.

But I love this trade proposal and hope it happens ... soon. Why?

Several other teams in the West have already made trades making it likely that this year's Suns team will not win the NBA Championship as it is currently put together. They have to make a trade to have any chance of winning in the playoffs this year. There are chemistry issues between Marion and Amare Stoudemire and Marion actually requested a trade in the off-season. Some believe Marion is on the downward side of his career and his physical skills are diminishing. The team is successful with their high octane style of play, but always come up short in the down-and-dirty playoffs -- a small team that gets beat up by tougher teams. The Suns have never had a dominant center and Shaq may not be what he was, but he is still better than most other big men in the league. The team currently has too many small forwards, and with the addition of Grant Hill losing Marion may not be such a devestating blow. We also get rid of the overpaid and underutilized Marcus Banks. With Shaq Daddy taking over the middle of the court, Amare can play big forward, where he wants to be, and I think he would increase his scoring. You would not see Manu Ginobili slicing through the lane to the rim so easily with Shaq sitting there to knock him on his ass.

It's time to gamble. If the Suns are going to win a championship it has to happen within the next two years, while Steve Nash is still playing at an MVP level. Suns Owner Robert Sarver may not want to spend the money on a broken down future Hall of Famer, but he may not have a better option. And he may make a ton of money back on the sale of Shaq Suns merchandise.
Word is Shaq may be in town tomorrow for a physical. If it looks like he is healthy enough to play down the stretch run they should pull the trigger and bring Shaq Diesel to the Valley of the Sun.