Was Shaquille O'Neal a Good Deal for the Phoenix Suns?

Back in February, Shaquille O'Neal debuted with, at the time, one of the elite Western Conference powerhouses, the Phoenix Suns.

The plan was supposed to be foolproof—move a disgruntled All-Star for a proven winner whose won a championship for every team he's been traded to.

Looking at his career stats, one couldn't help but feel that he is the missing piece to an already-dominant Western Conference Team.

Yet this facade was easily proved wrong, and the championship dreams of the city were crushed in an increasingly-easy five games by the Spurs. The series was supposed to be a battle, but turned out to be a clinic.

This proves that either Shaq never really got in tune with the system of the Suns, or, like most believe, Phoenix gave up a lot more then they gained with this monster trade.

Negatives

At the end of last season, the Suns gave up their primary "big man" defender in Kurt Thomas to try and get under the salary cap. Those attempts are all but destroyed with the trade for Shaquille O'Neal.

The Suns also gave up their glue man in Shawn Marion. Shawn was the one who covered up the holes in their system. He is almost as reliable as Amare on the break, he plays out of position yet makes it seem like it's not much of a disadvantage, and he's one of the best offensive and defensive players on the team, if not the league.

Marion fit well into the offense, because he can finish strong at the rim, yet has range all the way out to the three-point line. Though he was disgruntled, Shawn still came out every night and proved that he was among the elite forwards in the league.

The Suns showed in the series against the Spurs that their pick-and-roll defense is very poor. Shaq is too slow at this point in his career—and it showed when Tony Parker and Tim Duncan, in essence, ended the Suns' season with their well-calculated offense, which centered on the pick and roll during that specific series.

Though these negatives took a heavy toll of the Phoenix Suns this season, some do believe that the Suns can still compete for a championship next year. If training camp goes according to plan, expect a different-looking Suns team to make a splash in a very competitive Western Conference.

Positives

Shaquille O'Neal fills the paint. Even though he is not an exceptional defender, his size merits him great rebounding prowess. His size also makes many believe he is an above-average post defender. These two abilities fill two of the Suns greatest needs—interior defense and rebounding.

Perhaps the greatest upside to this deal is the newfound flexibility to play Amare at the four. In terms of athleticism, Amare is perhaps the most dominant power forward in the game today.

Since Amare is no longer responsible for defending centers larger then him, he can exert his will on the offense. And Amare is almost impossible to guard off the pick and roll.

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