This is not a team that needs an overhaul. It's a team on the verge." - Steve Kerr, June 6, 2007 ? "We have to be careful with tinkering with this too much. I don't want to think we have to go crazy. We're not that far away." - Mike D'Antoni, May 18, 2007 ? "How do you get better by trading Shawn?" - D'Antoni, May 20, 2007 Astute statements. Let's hope Suns management takes its own advice.Trade Shawn Marion? Are you kidding me? Trade Marion, and an anxious Suns fan base will spend the next five years wondering, "What if?" What if a team that had its mojo messed with in the postseason by the NBA office stayed together and made a title run in 2007-08?Aren't you dying to see what Amar? Stoudemire, Steve Nash and Marion can do with another year together? Remember, last season was their first as a unit.It sounds smarter than removing Marion and adding Boston's Theo Ratliff, Delonte West and a fifth overall pick to the mix, as one trade scenario making the rounds suggests.Even the thought of trading Marion, 29, for Detroit's Rasheed Wallace doesn't sit right.Sure, Wallace is a talent. A 6-foot-11 player who can run the floor and defend the post well would be a nice fit.Yet, too often Wallace, 32, becomes a distraction. At the heart of D'Antoni's system is trust. Trust that a teammate will be in the right position. Trust that a player will put the needs of his team first. How do you trust a guy who frequently loses control of his emotions, who is thrown out of a game and screams profanities at the referees and opposing players as Wallace did in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals against Cleveland?There's no room for meltdowns in a game run at breakneck pace. It's great that teammates respect Wallace, but distractions come at too steep a price. This is the guy who set an NBA record for technical fouls in Portland, right?No thanks.No one is blaming the Suns for fielding calls and exploring trades scenarios. But not one I've heard sounds like an improvement.Forget a sweeping change. The Suns would benefit from sharpening their personnel-evaluation skills.Consider the Spurs. They are great because of Tim Duncan, but they're also great because they secured Manu Ginobili with a second-round pick in 1999 and Tony Parker with the 28th pick in 2001. And they've never exceeded the luxury-tax threshold by more than $1 million.The Suns, meanwhile, are paying the price this off-season because of that five-year, $21 million contract they gave Marcus Banks. Their focus should be on improving the bench. Granted, that luxury-tax issue is a tricky one. The Suns are $8 million over the cap now, and although owner Robert Sarver said he is not opposed to paying it, like any good businessman he wants to minimize that figure as much as possible. The possibility of adding Grant Hill is intriguing. Questions remain if the free agent is interested, but for a guy who has never played on a team that experienced playoff success, Hill must find the Suns awfully enticing.The right free agent can make a difference. The Spurs helped their cause in recent years by adding talented veterans in search of a title such as Robert Horry and Michael Finley. If Hill is willing to come at a cheap rate, the Suns should bite. They're handcuffed by salary limitations, which means a heavier reliance on veteran minimum contracts and the midlevel exception.This off-season is going to demand a lot of creativity from new General Manager Steve Kerr, and the thought of losing Marion's two-year, $34.25 million contract may sound enticing.All Kerr needs to do is think of all the things Marion does - the rebounding, the defense, the ability to play at power forward and make the team faster - to realize unloading him would be dismantling a big part of the Suns.Not everyone can play in D'Antoni's system. Marion is tailor-made for it. Let's hope the Suns follow their own advice.article linkFINALLY somebody who knows what their talking about!!!
As much as I hate to say it, Nash, Marion and Stoudemire are a dangerous trio...hopefully Dallas can make a move this offseason to get a BIG MAN and get Jason Terry to be consistently good...
If Sarver want to keep paying for him then whatever, but the team still HAS TO make improvements and D'Antoni HAS TO use his bench more.
I don't want to see Marion leave but if the Suns do get the feeling he wants to opt out next season then we have to try and get something now.I think Hill would be a great pick up and it's probably between us and Detroit. I doubt he would be that bothered about money, he just wants a ring.Hopefully we could work out a package for Camby too, maybe Thomas, draft picks and filler could do it.
