Surely the Laker deal would be the better for Phoenix as they are similar styled players

NOOOOOOOOOOO :-( One more run Marion!!

And thus ends the Suns run at the 'Ship, ooops I mean the conference finals.

Say no to lamar odom, phoenix

Marion for Odom, Marion for Howard at least..
He is crazy! friendship with Bryant (won't equate to good assists? Like he gets from Nash). Isn't he friends with the Nash man? Doesn't he know like everyone else Bryant is a ball hog..

He probably knows that Kobe is one of the, if not the most, dedicated and competitive player in the entire league. No player on 16 million will not get enough shots no matter who he plays with.

Matrix is also seeking an extension for around the $60 mill mark over 3 years...

He's not a $20 mill a season guy.

Send em Odom and Radmanovic i reckon

Marion would provide better numbers than the 2 combined, and atleast give the Lakers another scorer

I'm sick of hearing this whole 'he won't be any good without Nash' talk. He was an All-star, 20 and 10 guy before Steve even arrived in PHX. Amare's the one who would suffer the most without Steve around.

Shawn always gets shot down for not being able to create his own shot and the like, but first of all, he doesn't need to be able to. His D is exceptional (it's a joke he's never been in an all-defensive team at all in his career), he's a great rebounder and one the best finishers in the game. And second, although he may not be able to create his own shot in classical ways, he can get to the hole with ease (just watch games from the 05-06 season) for little banks and dunks and he has great positioning on offense, whether it be on the break or in the half-court.

Anyway, hopefully both Shawn and the Suns can come to some sort of agreement, I'd hate to think what would happen if he left and even more so if he went to the Lakers and teamed up with Kobe.

Marion's number were just as good when Nash was at Dallas. Nash is an outstanding point guard, but Matrix's number are similar when Marbury was running the point and Barbosa's starting after the trade.

Nash rejoined the Suns in the 04/05 season...

02/03 - Marion: 21.2ppg / 9.5rpb / 1.2bpg / 2.3spg
03/04 - Marion: 19.0ppg / 9.3rpb / 1.3bpg / 2.1spg

04/05 - Marion: 19.4ppg / 11.3rbp / 1.5bpg / 2.0spg
05/06 - Marion: 21.8ppg / 11.8rpb / 1.7bpg / 2.0spg

Increase in scoring for the 05/06 would be the additional court time he received (extra 2.0mpg).

The player that benefited the most from Nash was Stoudamire. He bumped up his scoring average to 26.0 from 20.6ppg.

Anon, if you read on you would see that I said he can score on his own if need be. Granted, lots of what does comes as a result of good ball movement, but he can get off his own shot never the less. I watched a couple of games from the 06 season (without Amare) and couldn't believe the way Shawn played. Pretty much whenever he wanted to, he could get off a little runner or pull-up and knock down the mid-range jumper. Classic example of what he can do was the game vs the Spurs this year when Amare was serving his suspension, Trix ended up with something like 24/17.

As for his D, while your probably right that he isn't a typical 'lockdown defender', he can guard players straight up pretty decently and I really don't think his D is overrated. In fact, that he hasn't been on any all-defensive teams shows that if anything, it's underrated.

I think he's a great defender. Better than Odom thats for sure.

if phoenix trade marion for odom i think i'm going to start going for portland. Get on the bandwagon early

Was that last post directed at me, Anon? I'm not even saying that Shawn is better without Amare (because that's a given). Just that when he has the opportunities to score, he can in a multitude of ways, not just from Nash setting him up.

As for Odom being a beast in PHX...I won't get into specifics because I really can't be bothered, but I'd doubt he would much more than he is now.

I've long thought that Marion was a solid NBA player, but no way in hell should a team fork over valuable money for this guy. He is not a team player. He proves it time and again with his bleating about lack of respect for his skills. Case in point, would phoenix be better with Bruce Bowen at SF instead of Marion? Oh hell yeah. Last time i checked Bowen was a steal and certainly not asking for max contracts. Marion wants to get paid, period. Success is not on his agenda.

No one in the league would have Bowen over marion. Lets not forget Bowen does play with Duncan. Marion doesnt have a C grabbing boards and blocking shots.

Ok, marion would be picked in a draft well before bowen, but for the phoenix team right now, bowen is going to fit better in the team than marion, at half the price. He would also offer much more off the court. Marion wants more stats so he can demand bigger money, a trade to the lakers he would love coz his stats would boom and he would command cash. To hell with winning. We fans forget that this is just a job to some of these guys, period.
Jazz are having the same trouble with AK-47. Here is a guy that was "the man" for a couple of years, stats boomed, all star appearance, now he is the fourth option in offence and won't be able to cash in, hence trade request.

are u a close personal friend of marions nathan? did he tell you he only plays for money? that all he wants to do is get big numbers? is that where your getting that idea from?

Nathan, if you think Bowen would be a better fit in PHX than Marion, than you clearly don't watch much basketball. Bruce Bowen would suck in PHX. All he is a defender who can knock down spot up 3's. That's it. He's been lucky to find a system he can fit in and play a valuable role. Hell, Raja Bell is almsot the same player as Bruce is, with more offensive skills and athleticism. The two starting on the same team would be pointless.

I really hate sounding like a wet blanket, but players in the NBA want to get paid. anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. Garnett wants a ring.... yeah, now he does, his first prioroty was to secure a contract so big it forced them to trade their young gun point guard (marbury) which then constricted their payroll for his entire time at min. Kemp left the sonics coz he figured they couldn't afford him and payton. Boozer to utah.. Marion wants out coz playing third fiddle to nash and amare won't get him the stats needed for a max contract.
Fact- winning is the second most important thing to NBA players.
But hey, second comes right after first right?