Don’t trade Shawn Marion
September 27, 2007 by Mike Olbinski
I’ve had a change of heart overnight. Not sure if it was the lack of sleep, or the tossing and turning I did, but I realized something.
Shawn Marion is family.
At least, as much of a family member that a professional sports player can be to a city. He’s been here for eight years now and the town loves him. He’s been my favorite player the entire time.
Marion is just like that relative that requires a bit of extra attention. He can have the greatest people around him, building him up and patting him on the back, but if he hears one negative comment, it rips him apart. Don’t we all tend to be like that? Ignore the good stuff and focus on the bad? I’ve been there.
Granted, Marion makes so much money per year (the most on the team) that you’d think anything negative couldn’t possibly affect him. But one thing to remember: He’s still just a guy going through life. No amount of money or happiness is going to change that.
Trade rumors can have negative affects on someone. If you feel your team is shopping your name around, automatically you believe they want to get rid of you. I’m sure that happened here. And I’m sure all parties involved just don’t do enough talking.
The bottom line to me is this: I’ve thought about who a trade would bring in and where Marion would go, and I’ve come to one conclusion.
He belongs here. Nowhere else.
I honestly feel, after hearing some of the Suns players and coaches talking yesterday, that Ron Wolfley from KTAR is correct. They know him, they know he gets down and they know he’ll be fine. He’ll show up for camp and play like he’s always played. Balls to the wall.
I’m sure Steve Nash and Raja Bell, maybe a few others, have called him to see how he’s doing. Maybe he’s already had a change of heart. The whole impression I got from the team interviews was just that this was Shawn and they want him here. How could they not? They were THIS close to winning last year with him. Why change it?
I think Shawn is a just a young guy going through a rough time and acting out a bit. He’s always taken his chances to convey his under-appreciated-ness, but this time it’s more vocal than normal. The rumors in the offseason have also been more blatant than ever before. Of course he’s upset over it. I think I might be as well.
His teammates and coaches want him back and I feel he’s a different guy compared to Kobe Bryant, or Andrei Kirilenko and some of these athletes who demand trades and it’s all about them. It’s almost as if he’s acting out because he thinks that’s what you’re supposed to do.
I do wish he’d see what he has in Phoenix though, with Mike D’Antoni, or Steve Nash. Someone needs to open his eyes and help him recognize how good this team is for him, the fans and the city itself. Maybe he will someday soon.
But regardless, he belongs here. He’s been with us forever. We watched him grow up and become one of the greatest role players of all time. We’ve seen his amazing smile and laugh to break the tension. His energy and hustle are matched by no one. I don’t want to see him doing these things for someone else. Do you?
And what of these trade demands? I think his teammates will forgive him and likely already have. It might be harder for the fans, who have grown tired of his antics, but I think they will cut him some slack too.
I know I will. After all, he’s family.
[tags]shawn marion,phoenix suns,nba,steve nash[/tags]
Posted in phoenix suns
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The only relative that comes to mind in Marion’s context at this point is nagging ex-wife…
Ultimately, the drama with Shawn has to end sometime. All the rumors we’ve heard over the years were pretty much just that. Rumors. Now the reality of Shawn Marion’s tenure as a Sun ending is starting to surface.
It hasn’t become a question of whether or not Suns fans want him gone. I think in reality, most Suns fans don’t want him to go because they realize the unique player he is. The realize how well he fits in with this style of play. Chances are, their best shot at a championship includes keeping Marion on this team.
To what cost though. Out of all the options I have seen in regards to a trade for our unhappy forward, keeping him might be the best option. It is a pretty big gamble, however. Do the Suns really have a better shot at winning a title with an unhappy Marion as they do with perhaps a refreshed Odom, or AK47? To what lengths will the organization and it’s players have to go to keep Marion from voicing his frustration again? How big of a distraction could this be during the season?
These are questions that leave me as uneasy about this situation as perhaps trading him. Right now, the Suns are stuck between a rock and a hard place. There seems to really be no easy solution. As a fan of this team, I hope they can put it behind them during the year and just play ball. Then, when next year’s offseason comes around, they can re-visit the situation, and go from there.
Marion, despite the problems, is extemely productive and rarely misses a game. His rebounding and speed allow the Suns to be successful with their style of play.
None of the trade proposals I have heard would deliver equal value so every effort should be made to keep him with the Suns.
I would like to see him extended but $20M/year is way out of the question.
[...] great to hear that Marion is coming back down to earth here. I already wrote how Phoenix needs to keep him here, and I hope that continues to be [...]
[...] whether he’s right or wrong, I totally am with him. I wrote awhile ago that Marion needs to stay put and I stick by that. Look at him ripping it up in the preseason. He belongs here and I hope even [...]
marion should not be traded!!!!!!! no offense but grant hill is the one they should remove………..marion was once a suns and will always be a suns