Steve Kerr is a genius.
There, I said it. No lightning from the heavens, no pangs of guilt, no flashes of light. Steve Kerr is a genius.
For those of you living under a rock for this past week, the Phoenix Suns traded all-star forward Shawn Marion and point guard Marcus Banks for all-time great, center Shaquille O’Neal. The man who made the deal happen? A man by the name of Steve Douglas Kerr. As soon as this deal was made, many (read as: “everyone”) who knew basketball called this deal one of the worst deals in NBA history. How could you trade Banks (a formidable backup to Nash) and Shawn Marion (an all-star forward who, at any given time can guard every position on the court except for the center position) for an aging soon to be 36 year old center who has spent more time in street clothes than on the court in the last couple of years?
Well, hear me out, and if you’re still not convinced by the end of this article…re-read it, because by then the coherency and logic of my argument will have no choice but to permeate your thoughts.
First thing’s first. The main complaint I hear from everyone is this, “The Suns are a running team. Shaq is 35 years old, big, slow, and constantly hurt…Won’t he hurt the offense?” The simple answer to this question is “No.” Yes, the Suns are a running team, but who said that in order to be a running team you had to have all 5 people run down the court every single time? Most of the Suns “running” consists of Steve Nash pushing the ball in a 3-on-3 situation and kicking the ball out to one of the shooters for an open jump shot. That will continue to happen now, only it will be Shaq starting the fast break by getting the rebound and throwing the outlet pass. Furthermore, the Suns can’t run every time, and that is where Shaq comes in handy. Regardless of how old he is, or how healthy he is (and one can speculate about this anyway…Shaq is like the Michael Strahan of the NBA), Yao Ming is the only person in the NBA that can guard him one-on-one, which will be a tremendous help to the other four Suns on the floor in a half court set.
Secondly, its important to remember that the SUNS WERE NOT GOING TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR. 
Are the Suns good? of course. But honestly, was anybody giving them a chance to win the championship this year? We’re at the all-star break, and has anyone talked about the Suns legitimately winning the NBA championship this year? No. Everything has been Boston’s Big-3, or Detroit, or the Spurs, Mavericks, or the upstart Hornets, blah, blah, blah. Now throw in the fact that the Lakers just picked up Pau Gasol; giving the Suns one more potential hurdle to clear before they even get to the finals, let alone win the championship. Steve Nash will be 34 this year, and it doesn’t make sense to let his few remaining years languish away with the same nucleus that has already proven that they can’t win the championship (especially not when other teams are continually making moves to get better). The deal for Shaq isn’t about saying the Suns can’t run as much or that they don’t have as many versatile defenders, its about changing a team that dynamic that was great, but had no chance of succeeding in the end. Shaq brings potential, whereas everyone knew what was going to happen with Marion; the Suns would go to the second or third round of the playoffs, and lose. Does Shaq guarantee a championship in Phoenix? No. But he guarantees a chance to win, something that didn’t exist before the trade.
Thirdly, Shawn Marion didn’t want to be in Phoenix, so why not trade him? I myself said last September that there was a chance he’d go to the Heat [There is a glitch in The Matrix], I just didn’t expect him to be traded for Shaq. But honestly, was there a better deal available? Marion wanted to leave, plus he only had one more year left on his contract…why not deal him now to avoid the potential situation where you get nothing in return? Should the Suns have picked up someone other than Shaq? Maybe…but who? Pau Gasol had already been traded, Jason Kidd wouldn’t work with Steve Nash already there, and any lesser player would not be able to make the money match up (Marion is making $16 Million this year); Shaq was really the only way out.
Finally, this move was a good move because of the business advantages. Shawn Marion is a great player, but this is Shaq we’re talking about. Shaq’s move to the heat will increase merchandise sales and attendance (even though the Suns are doing quite well with their attendance numbers already). I’m not sure how the NBA teams split up merchandising revenue, but I assume that a revenue increase will do nothing but help the Suns (Yes, Shaq’s jersey is already on sale, and he ranked 12th last year in jersey sales, a category which should see an increase now).
In the end, Steve Kerr was in a stagnant situation. He had a great team, but he had a team that was not going to win the championship and he had an all-star player that didn’t want to stay with the team. He went out and pulled off a blockbuster deal, getting the best player possible, regardless of that player’s age. His team now has a CHANCE to win, whereas before they did not. That is why Steve Kerr is a genius…at least, until his next move.
Sports Business Digest: There is a glitch in The Matrix
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Emmett, I could not disagree with you more on this trade. To me, this will end Steve Kerr’s front-office career and re-start his broadcasting career. Shaq is a broken down relic who is 180 degrees from how every player on that team knows how to play. The Suns very well might have won the championship last season had the league not decided to decide the outcome of the Suns-Spurs series with suspensions. No matter what Shawn Marion wanted, you never trade a player until you get equal value at least. The Sixers learned that the hard way with Iverson and the Lakers already showed they knew the rule by keeping Bryant. This was a desperate, poorly-thought out deal in my opinion.
Yeah, I saw that you didn’t like this deal over on AllTalk. I still think it’s a good deal though, considering the situation. Marion has an option for next year, which means the Suns risked getting nothing in return for him. That combined with the fact that Marion wanted to leave, puts Kerr in a “must-trade” position. So, the trade deadline being a month away, who could he trade Marion for? There doesn’t seem to be any other player in the league that is anywhere near Marion’s value that the Suns could have possibly gotten. That combined with the fact that other teams have upgraded, and the Suns could not win last year (true, the suspensions did hurt…no one being able to guard Tony Parker hurt too) means the Suns would desperately need an inside presence come playoff time. Shaq was their answer. Again, I’m not saying it guarantees them a championship, I’m saying that it gives them hope. With Marion the Suns have no chance to win and with Shaq, its at least a wildcard of sorts.
I don’t watch basketball and even I know that wasn’t a good deal. Shaq got weaker knees than SWV.
While I disagree with your analysis, it’s well thought out and makes sense. Things could work out, but everything’s up in the air until we see how Shaq’s doing. However, I disagree on the statement that the Suns had little shot at a championship this year pre-Shaq; they were leading the West and were arguably a melee away from winning it last year. The competition is much stiffer this season but they were definitely contenders. The real issue is they now lose defense, and as we’ve seen, they needed more, not less, defensive ability. Also, do you really want to pay Shaq $20 mill in two years? I don’t.
BTW, the new site is really impressive, congrats.
I don’t even count the Suns during the regular season. Especially when the perennial playoff teams in the West don’t even play their hardest (namely the Spurs), once they know they’re in the playoffs. Furthermore, the west has upgraded (Hornets are better, the Lakers, another year for the Nuggets to come together, etc.) I don’t think its a guarantee that the Suns get to the conference finals this year with Marion.
The Suns have been impressive every regular season in recent memory, but the playoffs are a different animal completely. You need an inside game in the playoffs, especially if you’re shooting is off one day. As I said before, Marion wanted to leave…if somebody can find another big man available that he could have been traded for instead? Then I’m all ears. They certainly lose on the ball defense, but they do gain inside defense, which I’m guessing they’re hoping will balance out any people driving to the basket that Marion would have otherwise stopped.
As far as the $20 million a year, yeah that sucks. But on the other hand, Marion was making 17 a year, so its not like they’re paying a lot of money they otherwise wouldn’t have paid.
Marion’s deal is a year shorter and he’s much younger and more likely to play up to a level that reasonably matches the cost of his deal. Also, Shaq sucks at defense now because he can’t move laterally like he once could so that mitigates his positives in the half-court set, although he might only need to play 30 mpg given the Suns’ style and penchant for going small.
I’d love to see Shaq reborn and all that because he’s a generational player, but I just don’t see him being anything better than very effective for more than short bursts–which makes it hard to justify his salary. The PR aspect does help even out the money for ownership, however.
I’m sorry. Did this work out?
No?
Ok, then. Thanks.