6. Shawn Marion
Shawn Marion for Shaquille O’Neal was a reaction trade, and one that was equally as poorly thought-out as the Luol Deng move.
While Shaq was widely accepted in Phoenix, he was on the backend of his career while Marion still had plenty of his prime left, all of which brought back memories of the Majerle for ‘Hot Rod’ trade from over 20 years prior. The trade essentially amounted to a skilled swing-man who was very popular in the Valley, for an aging, and – when acquired – broken down center who could not offer the kind of impact he could in the past to make the trade worth the attempt.
Worse yet, the deal was made without General Manager Steve Kerr’s consent as it was Robert Sarver and Mike D’Antoni that actually pulled it off despite Kerr’s objection.
Of course, after Shaq healed, he played the remainder of the 2007-08 season before the Suns were ousted in the first round of the playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs (the same result the year of the Majerle trade). The following season, Shaq’s only full year in the Valley of the Suns, Phoenix missed the playoffs, although had to deal with the firing of Mike D’Antoni, the hiring and firing of Terry Porter, and the re-shuffle of the style of play that new Head Coach Alvin Gentry brought in.
The Suns excelled under Gentry as well as with the addition of Grant Hill, although most of their combined success came following the trade of Shaq to Cleveland. It is a fair presumption to make that had Marion been on the roster with Hill in 2009-2010, there may have been a very different playoffs result.