elindholm
edited for content
I think a trade is highly likely, but not before mid-season and not neccesarily involving Marion.
I agree about the "not necessarily" part. But I think that Marion is the most likely to be moved.
From the Suns' standpoint, Marion has reached his peak. He isn't going to get more athletic, he isn't going to improve his fundamentals, and he isn't going to get more courageous.
But at the same time, I think that Marion has the most trade value to other teams. Although his contract seems to go on forever, in fact it runs until "only" 2009, whereas Richardson goes until 2010 and Johnson's extension will presumably go until 2011. There are degrees of forever. Also, Marion is the only one of the three who has been an All-Star and an Olympian, not to mention the only one who makes relatively frequent appearances on highlight reels with his cool nickname.
Richardson didn't get any offers better than $5.8 million from the Suns. Is that because everyone else assumed the Clippers would match, or because no one else valued him that much? I think the Suns got Richardson for a good price, but it may be that his value across the league isn't that great. If he stays in a sixth-man role with Phoenix, it's hard to see anyone else coveting him enough to trade a legitimate big man.
As for Johnson, he will be a BYC player after the Suns extend him, meaning that it will be very difficult to trade him before (I believe) the summer of 2006. If the Suns think that the present lineup isn't adequate, two years is an awfully long time to wait before doing something about it.
In short, I think Marion is both the player that the Suns would most like to move and the player with the most value across the league. Which makes him the target.
I agree about the "not necessarily" part. But I think that Marion is the most likely to be moved.
From the Suns' standpoint, Marion has reached his peak. He isn't going to get more athletic, he isn't going to improve his fundamentals, and he isn't going to get more courageous.
But at the same time, I think that Marion has the most trade value to other teams. Although his contract seems to go on forever, in fact it runs until "only" 2009, whereas Richardson goes until 2010 and Johnson's extension will presumably go until 2011. There are degrees of forever. Also, Marion is the only one of the three who has been an All-Star and an Olympian, not to mention the only one who makes relatively frequent appearances on highlight reels with his cool nickname.
Richardson didn't get any offers better than $5.8 million from the Suns. Is that because everyone else assumed the Clippers would match, or because no one else valued him that much? I think the Suns got Richardson for a good price, but it may be that his value across the league isn't that great. If he stays in a sixth-man role with Phoenix, it's hard to see anyone else coveting him enough to trade a legitimate big man.
As for Johnson, he will be a BYC player after the Suns extend him, meaning that it will be very difficult to trade him before (I believe) the summer of 2006. If the Suns think that the present lineup isn't adequate, two years is an awfully long time to wait before doing something about it.
In short, I think Marion is both the player that the Suns would most like to move and the player with the most value across the league. Which makes him the target.
