The trade: The Suns send Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Heat for Shaquille O'Neal.
Leave Steve Kerr ALONE! I am sick of him getting treated like the kid who just traded his signed Michael Jordan basketball card for a half-eaten PB&J sandwich. Fans are bashing him, the media is bashing him, and all of basketball nation is calling for his head and labeling this trade a disaster. Everyone needs to calm down, take a deep breath and get into downward-facing dog. NBA fans need to look at this move with a little perspective and not get caught up in what it looks like on the surface.
On the face of it, sure, it looks like Heat GM Randy Pfund just pulled an Ocean's Eleven heist. Either that, or he walked in on Kerr cheating on his wife with Charles Barkley after having too much to drink at the NBA Christmas party, and only a Marion-Shaq swap was going to keep Pfund quiet.
Marion is a dynamic talent who can do everything. He can shoot, pass, rebound, run the floor and defend literally any player in the league. Shaq is a fat, old, out-of-shape and oft-injured center who probably will be staring opposite the Olsen twins in "A New York Minute 2" this time next year. The Suns are taking on a big-salaried, washed-up center for a guy whose nickname is "The Matrix." Steve Kerr just ruined the franchise.
Sure, this is all possible, except probably the Kerr-Barkley hookup, but if you can get past how the deal looks, you will see why Steve Kerr didn't just make a good move - he made a necessary one.
Realize that just because this trade was a no-brainer for the Heat doesn't mean the Suns got taken. Randy Pfund is no Danny Ocean and Steve Kerr is no idiot. Something sports fans often forget is that there is a reason why GMs are in charge of multi-million-dollar teams: they're smarter than you.
Here is a closer look at the deal.
Shawn Marion has wanted out of Phoenix for years. In ESPN The Magazine, he once admitted that he would rather be the center of attention on a mediocre team than the third option on the Suns. He is a delusional, ungrateful, spoiled ass who should have been off this team as soon as that article hit newsstands.
But the real reason why this move was made and the reason why basketball nation must get off Kerr's back is Steve Nash's age. Nash isn't just one of the best players in the NBA; he's one of the great talents in the history of the game. But he's 34 and counting. In basketball years, he's old. If the Suns go though Nash's prime without a championship, it would be an incredible waste of talent for the franchise.
So now think about the Suns before the trade. We knew exactly what they were: a run-and-gun team that probably was going to get knocked out in the early-to-mid rounds of the playoffs. Another year of Steve Nash's Hall of Fame career would be wasted. This team was not going to win it all. But what if somehow Shaq can find some youth in his 36-year-old legs and contribute? Then what are the Suns? A playoff team? Sure. Another early-round disappointment? Probably. A championship team? Well, um, now I'm not sure.
With Shaq, the Suns' ceiling is a little bit higher, and that alone makes this deal a good one.
Gideon Jacobs is a freshman who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at Gideon.Jacobs@tufts.edu.
