But I hate this deal for the league itself.

When guys like Shaq start moving for JUST money, it’s pretty lame.

I know whimper is spelled w/ an H…

this is such a bad basketball deal, I can’t stand it.

Do we even want aaron nelson to work his magic on ben wallace? Keep him injured and he’ll retire for cheaper…..

I have to believe that the Suns know exactly what Wallace will accept in a buy-out. Otherwise there is absolutely no reason to do this deal (except financially).

This, of course, assumes the Suns front-office are competent, forward thinkers with the ability to make good basketball decisions. I hope this is the start of something better.

And, as far as technicalities go, wasn’t it D’Antoni who wanted Shaq and had to convince Kerr? So I can’t completely blame Kerr for Shaq…JRich, however, is a different story. God, Diaw would be a nice fit right now.

I am calling it a night. Long day traveling and I think we are just getting started here. Big day tomorrow. Rest up

I just don’t think this squad was ever given a real chance to show what it could do, mostly because of Terry P. And that’s a shame.

We had glimpses of greatness for this team at the end of Mike D’s tenure, after the trade, along with some bad losses (Detroit, Celtics) and then again this year when Alvin took over.

I was looking forward to seeing what heights we were actually capable of reaching. I guess we’ll never know, now.

it gives Shaq another chance to ask Kobe how his ass tastes…….. I hope Shaq and LeBron win it this year (of course only if the Suns don’t play in the NBA finals :D)

I concur with the general disgust surrounding this trade. I hate just as much and for all the same reasons as I hated it two weeks ago. It’s a pretty egregious and obvious money move. Furthermore, I have little faith in the MLE option, since I don’t think the Suns will spend that cash if they’re anticipating a bust-up. Also, while Gortat is a feasible option for the MLE, David Lee will cost more than that. 26 year old PFs who just averaged 16 and 12 get paid more than 5.5M/yr in this league.

All of that said, I think it is at least somewhat comforting that the Suns have picked up on what was fairly obvious after the 07-08 season. This team was no longer a contender and needed a makeover.

Let’s blow it all to hell. Everyone not named Barbosa, Lopez, Dudley, or Dragic must go! Wee hee!

Last: I hope that we can trade one of our big money assets (specifically Amare) to get back in to the 2010 draft, since giving up the 14 here would be pretty brutal in terms of our rebuilding intentions. I mean, say what you want about this draft class, but the difference btw Earl Clark and Jerebko or Calathes is a significant one. That said, if we do move down it had better be one of those two players that we draft.

Dammmm……Who is going to play center….. Slopez is no starter. He will be instant foul trouble. I am interested in seeing shaq and lebron together….could be good…

It should also be said that even though we’re all dismissing Wallace as a complete slouch now, that point is at least a debatable one. There’s no doubt he’s overpaid, but in the broad spectrum of NBA centers (i.e. from David Harrison to Dwight Howard) Wallace, assuming he still plays, is actually a pretty decent one by some standards.

I mean, his per 36 min numbers are still 9.9 rpg, 1.3 spg, and 2.1 bpg. Those definitely aren’t 02-03 Wallace numbers much less eight figure salary numbers, but compared to most NBA centers, they’re at least solid. And even though PER doesn’t give him much love, Dave Berris Win Score/Produced would put Wallace’s per minute production last year at about twice that of the average player and Wallace’s +/- numbers are still impressive on the defensive end.

So if he doesn’t retire (which does seem likely) and the Suns can keep him healthy for the year, we may actually have gotten ourselves an at least serviceable starting center for a year.

Just a thought.

I’m disgusted for the Suns and for Shaq. He is a future hall of famer who got traded almost every two year like a “piece of meat”. The Suns are pretending to compete next year while starting to rebuild, this team is probably going nowhere…

I’m looking for the next moves from Kerr but I’m not very optimistic, it’s a sad day and quite the true end of an era I think.

and I think Shaq in Phoenix, even for a year and a half, was pretty cool.

And now that he’s gone I’m happy, and if Amare and Nash go I’m happy. I’ve wanted to blow it up since before the beginning of last season.

I feel like the only Suns fan on Earth who thinks the party has been over for a while now.

Sarver himself said he wanted a competitive team this year, and then turns around and slaps the fans in the face. What a joke. I was against the Shaq trade for Marion, but it still beats this alternative.

He worked hard, played hard, had no beef. Didn’t like the trade, but it wasn’t his fault he ended up in Phoenix.
 I see the Suns getting rid of the 14th pick, to get into the 1st round next year.
 This will be a blow up. Sarver sees the opportunity to save some money, it will be done.
 Get ready for the lottery next year, if the Suns get a 1st round pick back.

I’ll be the first to come out and say it, these guys may have actually done something right. On paper, it looks like we got the short end of the stick simply because we gave up an All-Star for what amounts to almost nothing. In all reality, if you look at the current roster (pre-draft) you see that by removing O’neal and simply replacing him in the starting line-up with Amare we are a MUCH, MUCH faster team with. Nash stands to have a career year with finishers like Richardson and Stoudamire on the break with no true bigs to slow them down. What we need from this draft (via draft, trade, whatever…) is a rebounder that can pull defenders away from the key on offense. Another Marion type. This could very well work out a lot better than some of us have thought…

Absolutely hated it…but to say that the Shaq experiment was a failure is flawed imo. D’Antoni only got 15 games to see what Seven Seconds or Shaq could do, and Gentry only got two! D’Antoni had Amare putting up epic numbers next to Shaq, and Gentry had our squad putting up offensive numbers that hadn’t been seen in over a decade.

i hated that Shaq was a Phoenix Sun, but i think trading him for nothing is so much worse than trading for him.

Let’s see what they do w/ Wallace now…..rumors of Tyson Chandler abound.

… and no one has mentioned the word “moron” yet.

Just sayin’.

We traded Marion for Wallace and Pavlovic and a second round pick. Although I guess you have to toss Banks in that equation as well.

This move for the Suns isn’t exactly a win win trade. With Shaq’s expiring contract, they could have used his money for a chance at the 2010 sweepstakes coming up this next off-season. Also if the kept him, they would not have had a real good chance for getting out of the west. So, since the Suns traded him, they still won’t get out of the west, and they owe 19 million to Wallace & Pavlovic the next two years. Sure, some might say “But they also got a 2nd round draft pick”, but honestly, I can’t see that extra second rounder bring them farther or even to the playoffs.

TRADE GRADE:
Suns: C-
Cavaliers: B+

OG_03

its very easy to hate on Shaq especially given his behaviour in social media circles. ie: youtube video dissing Kobe, Chris Bosh, Stan Gundy but I have to say im pretty impressed with the way he played with Suns. Im looking forward to watching more Cav games next season.