Marion And Kobe Talk Trade - Reality Or Fantasy? Matrix Wouldn't Mind Joining Kobe.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=Marion

By J.A. Adande
ESPN.com

Updated: September 22, 2007

Shawn Marion was bringing the good news. If you're a Lakers fan.

"I'm definitely interested in the Lakers," the Phoenix Suns forward
said.

More than that, he said he talked to Kobe Bryant, and Bryant "embraced
it."


Said Marion: "He wants to make it happen."

If Bryant cares about what trades the Lakers make and thinks adding
Marion would help, at least it's an indication that he's thinking about
the Lakers as "we" not "them."

Still, it's hard to miss the irony of Marion's wanting to fulfill his
desire to be traded by joining a guy who kicked off this summer's stream
of trade wishes. Bryant's radiothon at the end of May started a trend
followed by Jermaine O'Neal, Andrei Kirilenko and now Marion.

"My name has been mentioned in trades over and over," Marion said. "I'm
tired of hearing about it. It's time for me to take the next step and
leave.

"It's like a bad marriage. It's time to get up. I love my fans, I love
the city, I love my teammates. I just think it's time for me to leave."

The simplest way for him to get to Los Angeles would be for the Lakers
to send Lamar Odom to Phoenix. Their salaries are close enough (Marion
is making $16 million this season, Odom $13 million) and the
cost-conscious Suns would shave $3 million off their payroll.

Of course, no trade in the NBA is ever easy. Odom needs to show that he
has recovered from offseason shoulder surgery; it's the second time his
shoulder has been operated on in two years. And no team likes to trade a
key player within its division. (Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak,
not talking about any specific moves, told Los Angeles radio station
KLAC on Monday that the Lakers would not make a trade before training
camp starts next week).

The Suns have said they wanted to keep their core intact -- and included
Marion on that list, along with Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire. They
took a step backward competitively when they traded big man Kurt Thomas
this summer to shave his $8 million salary, but said that would let them
keep their big guns. But they also contemplated breaking up the nucleus,
whether by trading for Kevin Garnett or sending Marion to the Boston
Celtics.

Owner Robert Sarver has long been wary of going over the luxury tax
threshold, which is why Marion -- the highest-paid player on the team --
has spent more time on the trading block than the negotiating table, his
desire for a contract extension (at a reported $60 million for three
years) not being met. So if the Suns don't want to keep him around, he
doesn't want to stay around.

"They're not talking extension," Marion said. "It's not even relevant to
even talk about. All the stuff that's going on, nobody's doing what
they're supposed to do. I could tell you a thousand things, but for
what? People are going to say what they say, do what they do. It's run
its course."

In an ideal world this would be only about winning. Marion would want to
stay with a team that won 177 games and made two trips to the conference
finals the past three seasons. And the Suns would want to keep an
integral, often-overlooked player who helped make it happen.

But this is about business. Sarver has the right to look after his
business interests. But his team is a collection of small business
owners themselves, including Marion Inc., Nash Enterprises and
Stoudemire LLP. And they have only a limited time to maximize their
profits. The downside of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, with
its salary cap and luxury tax, is that it pits all of these businesses
against each other when they should really be on the same team.

So would $20 million a season for Marion be a good investment? Well,
Stephon Marbury will make $20 million this season. And who signed
Marbury to that contract extension that will bring another $21.9 million
in 2008-09? Why, the Phoenix Suns. But that was four years ago, when the
Colangelos were running things. And that's the Knicks' problem now,
thanks to a January 2004 trade.

Marion sometimes went overlooked in the Suns' dazzling display. Nash has
been the centerpiece in their broadband offense, with two MVP trophies
to show for it. Stoudemire made first-team all-NBA last season. But two
of the most memorable Suns plays over the past two seasons involved
Marion, and you probably don't even know it. He grabbed the offensive
rebound that led to Tim Thomas' shot that let the Suns pull out Game 6
against the Lakers in the 2006 playoffs. And he chased down the
offensive rebound and set up Nash for a 3-pointer in the Suns' big
regular-season statement game against Dallas last March.

Marion has hit some 3-pointers here, thrown down some dunks there, and
played defense everywhere, guarding point guards to post men. Sometimes
he feels unappreciated, but he said, "I do get love."

He sure gets computer love. This past season, the folks at 82games.com
created a formula to determine the defensive player of the year,
crunched the numbers and came up with Marion.

Four years ago I had the No. 1 pick in an online fantasy hoops draft and
was all set to take Garnett (in what turned out to be his MVP season).
But I couldn't get logged in and the computer selected for me. It picked
Shawn Marion.

He does a little bit of everything. The knock has been he's never been
the master of one thing, the franchise guy. If he joined the Lakers, he
wouldn't have to be. Marion knows Bryant still would be the guy taking
the bulk of his shots. Marion could wait in the corner and throw up that
funny-looking jumper when Bryant found the middle too clogged. He would
upgrade the Lakers' athleticism quotient and help them defensively.

It's easy to see how this could help the Lakers, especially if it was
enough to mollify Bryant. It wouldn't make as much sense for the Suns,
unless they decided that having an unhappy Marion would be detrimental
to the team chemistry, counterproductive -- and thus bad for business.
.

Quantcast