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This 'Diesel' has run out of gas |
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Written by John Smallwood, MCT
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 |
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Somewhere in retirement, Jerry West is smiling, knowing that his protege, Mitch Kupchak, learned his lessons well.
If Kupchak wasn't already the NBA's general manager of the year for fleecing the Memphis Grizzlies of All-Star forward Pau Gasol for virtually nothing, the clinching shoe dropped when the Phoenix Suns — in a desperate overreaction — acquired fading center Shaquille O'Neal.
In less than a week, Kupchak not only turned the Lakers into the "on-paper" favorite in the Western Conference, he also got the Suns, one of his top rivals in the West, to risk their short- and long-term future on an aging center who, even when healthy, is only a little more than half the player he used to be.
Who would have thought the day would come that the team trading for O'Neal may be on the short side? But that's exactly what the Suns, who currently have the best record in the West, have done.
It's not the players Phoenix gave up. Disgruntled forward Shawn Marion and backup guard Marcus Banks aren't too much for O'Neal.
This is about the fit, or rather, the lack of fit between what the Suns do best and what O'Neal has left.
The Suns won 115 games over the last two regular seasons, and are on pace to win 58 this season because of their up-tempo, pedal-to-the-floor style that has put the fun back into the NBA.
Even if O'Neal were not almost 36 years old and plagued with hip problems, his style of play would require the Suns to ease up on the accelerator.
But because Shaq is nearly 36 and plagued with a hip problem that already has cost him 14 games, Phoenix is going to slow to a turtle's pace to get any benefit from O'Neal, even if he is down from 325 to 312 pounds, as reported.
So in February, eight games past the midway point, the Suns are going to scrap a system that has made them a top contender to incorporate a guy who is in rapid decline?
It's either that or hope O'Neal suddenly turns the clock back three years. I'm thinking "The Diesel" doesn't have enough gas left in the tank to do that.
O'Neal's scoring numbers have decreased in each of the last three seasons, and his current averages of 14.2 points and 7.8 rebounds are way below his career averages of 25.6 points and 11.5 rebounds.
I understand the attraction of O'Neal. It wasn't that long ago the guy was leading the Lakers and Miami Heat to five NBA Finals and four championships in seven years.
Many consider him the best big man ever.
But the Shaq who Phoenix is getting is not that Shaq.
The old Shaq would have addressed Phoenix' need for a quality center, thus allowing All-Star Amare Stoudemire to flourish as a power forward instead of an undersized pivot.
The old Shaq would have given Phoenix a presence to counter Western Conference big men like San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Houston's Yao Ming, the Lakers' Andrew Bynum and Portland's Greg Oden (next season).
The old Shaq would have enough left for Suns point guard and two-time MVP Steve Nash to figure out how to incorporate him in the offense without destroying it.
This older Shaq offers none of that.
Miami is an NBA-worst 9-38 in the weakest division of the inferior Eastern Conference. The collapse of the Heat from NBA champions in 2006 to doormat in 1 ½ seasons says a lot about O'Neal's diminished impact.
Perhaps Phoenix owner Robert Sarver and general manager Steve Kerr felt they had no choice.
Despite having Nash and Stoudemire, the Suns have not been able to get over the playoff hump into the NBA Finals.
The Spurs and Dallas Mavericks already were established roadblocks. With Gasol getting 24 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in his debut as a Laker, the Suns must have felt the need to react quickly to keep the window of opportunity open.
Perhaps trading Marion, who requested to be moved before the season, was inevitable and logical. Still, I have to believe that had they waited until the upcoming trade deadline, dealing Marion could have gotten them something considerably more than O'Neal.
To repeat: Shaq is aging, declining in productivity and injured. His current skills and abilities do not fit into the successful, free-flowing system the Suns run.
And with O'Neal still being owed $40 million during the next two seasons, the Suns will be effectively capped out until the 2010-11 season.
Generally when a team makes an all-or-nothing gamble like this, the player it is acquiring is a sure bet.
The old Shaquille O'Neal was. This older Shaquille O'Neal isn't even close.
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