Marion Wants Out
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by Nejoshi
The NBA season is still over a month away, but this latest announcement puts the league back on the front page much earlier than we would have thought.
The Phoenix Suns and Shawn Marion’s rocky relationship looks like it won’t last too much longer as Marion issued a statement late last night saying, “I’m tired of hearing my name in trades. I love my fans in Phoenix, but I think it’s time for me to move on.” All summer long, trade rumors have been intensifying, implicating Marion’s departure from the team he has spent his entire career with.
Impressed with Amare Stoudemire’s impressive return from major knee surgery last season, Phoenix’s management has been hesitant to lock up Marion long term. He is already the Suns’ highest paid player, with two years and $34.2 million dollars left on his contract. It is becoming more and more evident that Phoenix plans to build around Amare and his 20.4 points and 9.6 rebounds he averaged last season. This intention from the Suns’ management only adds to Marion’s claim that his greatness is overlooked.
When Stoudemire suffered his miserable knee injury, the team’s primary scoring option became Marion for the breadth of the 2005-06 season. It’s no coincidence that the small forward responded with the best season of his career, being the only player in the NBA to be ranked in the top 20 of points, rebounds, steals, and blocks. Quite a stat filler, indeed. The versatile forward has proven that he isn’t only a one-dimensional player, guarding everyone from Dirk Nowitzki to Tony Parker.
During his eight years in Phoenix, Marion averaged 18.6 points and 10 boards a game as the do it all playmaker in the Suns’ high-powered offense. The Matrix, as many in Phoenix know him, has become well known for his unorthodox shooting motion and his ability to make any play on the floor at any time, but hasn’t been embraced in the same manner as his contemporaries.
At the moment, there are two potential destinations for a trade involving the UNLV star. Many have speculated that Andrei Kirilenko of the Utah Jazz could be part of a deal that sends Marion to the Mormon capital. If you think that deal would be a blockbuster, imagine if Marion joined his buddy Kobe Bryant in the City of Angels; in order to make that a reality, the Lakers would have to send talented, but inconsistent Lamar Odom.
In either case, Marion would probably have to play second fiddle once again, either to Carlos Boozer with the Jazz or Bryant in LA. If it were any consolation, at least Marion would have the opportunity to get more fame in one of those locations than he had with Phoenix where Steve Nash, Stoudemire, and even Leandro Barbosa seem to get more love than Marion does. However, Marion has insisted that he has no beefs with his teammates, only management.
Early reports are that a trade isn’t likely to occur in the next week, which means that the disgruntled Marion would have to show up at the opening of training camp on Monday. Being the ultimate professional he is, Marion said that he would still report, but tensions are bound to be high in Suns country where the team is solely concerned on winning an NBA title.
