Not only can the New York Knicks spend the summer regretting the Eddy Curry trade that cost them June’s no. 2 overall pick, there’s also a chance that said selection might’ve been enough to acquire Shawn Marion writes the Daily Herald’s Mike McGraw.
There is talk around the NBA that the Phoenix Suns may be willing to move Marion this summer. At first glance, the idea seems absurd, since the 28-year-old forward is coming off consecutive third-team all-NBA honors.
But here™s the theory: The Suns™ payroll is already close to $60 million for next season, just below luxury-tax threshold. The team also has a new owner, Robert Sarver, who paid a high price to gain control from the Colangelo family.
The Suns expect to have Amare Stoudemire back from a knee injury next year, and they found a capable small forward in Boris Diaw, who won the most-improved-player award and hit the winning shot against Dallas in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
Marion is owed about $48.5 million over the next three years, so the Suns might be willing to make a trade if they can get a big man in return and lose a few million in salary. Trimming the payroll would help Phoenix re-sign Diaw and guard Leandro Barbosa, who are eligible for extensions.
The Bulls could send their two first-round draft picks to Phoenix for Marion, which would give the Suns a shot at LaMarcus Aldridge or Tyrus Thomas with the No. 2 selection and also lower their payroll by about $10 million.
Would the Suns be interested in such a deal? Hard to say, but former Phoenix general manager Bryan Colangelo is sitting in Toronto with the No. 1 pick and might jump on the same trade if it™s available.
The Association’s Brett Edwards seems to be suggesting that Larry Hughes is done mourning. Hey, life goes on.
To borrow a popular phrase from a prior generation, No Justice, No Peace.
(Flash — closing in on his first Finals)
Rasheed Wallace just fouled out with 3:30 remaining and the Pistons trailing the Heat by 11. There’s a pretty huge disparity in free throws tonight but the Pistons — one or two calls aside — aren’t being jobbed. One of these teams has been playing a smart, well executed game, and it isn’t the squad coached by Flip Saunders.
I think the same source spreading the Marion rumor had something to do with the Ben Gordon to the Knicks bullshit.
If I were going to call a performace Jordanesque, it would have to be Wade’s.
as we come to grips with the very real possibility that Miami will advance and might win the whole darn thing, I pose this question to the Elias Koteas Sports Bureau :
would Stan V.G. be the first deposed NBA coach to watch his charges win a title in the same season he left since Paul Westhead? Same successor in both cases, too.
You would be correct. Paul Westhead was bounced early in the 1981-82 season, replaced by Riley. Though in that case, Riley didn’t encourage Westhead to spend more time with his family; Magic Johnson did.
Then again, Westhead was hoisted on his own petard, whatever that means. He got the Lakers job because Jack McKinney injured himself severely falling off his bike 14 games into the 1979-80 title-winning season.
The closest anybody else has come to achieving this feat (change coaches during the season, win a title) was Seattle in 1977-78, firing Bob Hopkins and replacing him with Lenny Wilkens, who took a heretofore 5-17 team to the finals.
I will now return to playing the home version of “Stump the Schwab.”
GC,
When is the CSTB book club starting up? http://www.newyorker.com/critics/books/?060529crbo_books1 sounds like a good first choice
Nevermind how idiotic it would be for the Suns to trade Marion, there’s nothing in this draft that merits equal value for The Matrix.
agreed I.L., that neither Aldridge nor Thomas are the equal of Marion, but they won’t be making nearly as much for some time…and somebody might figure that the Suns can do just as well with Stoudemire in the lineup for a full season (a guy they’ve already made a big commitment to).
that said, I still don’t think they’d trade for the no. 2 pick
Think about it. The Suns are coming off a year that with a few less turnovers and a break here and there couldve very likely been world champions. There are excited that the next year will be more succesful with the addition of arguabley the most unstoppalbe player in Amare Stoudemire. They know they have a chance, and they arent gunna through that away by giving up a player that will play a huge role in possibly winning the title in ’07.
Sunfan,
you might wanna take this point up with Gerry Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times, who wrote the following yesterday morning :
“The scuttlebutt among some NBA officials Thursday was that fired New York Knicks coach Larry Brown will find another coaching job next season, and that the Bulls and Suns are giving serious thought to a trade in which Suns forward Shawn Marion would be jettisoned to the Bulls for power forward Tyson Chandler and the Bulls’ top draft pick, which is the second overall choice.”
Chandler + LaMarcus Aldridge for Marion? If Stoudemire is coming back at 100%, I’m not sure they don’t make the deal
I think Marion is the only reason they made it as far as they did this year. Without him, the chance of them winning the title next year is out of the picture.