Jermaine O'Neal for Shawn Marion? Heat, Raptors Talk Trade

The World Famous LayupDrill Rumor Mill
1/17/09

We reported earlier this week that Shawn Marion’s departure from Miami was going to happen soon, even though all parties involved have denied it up to this point. This morning, Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Miami Heat GM Pat Riley has been in preliminary talks with Raptors management about the potential of a multi-player trade that would involve sending Shawn Marion to Canada for Jermaine O’ Neal.

Most league executives feel that the Heat would like to make sure O’Neal is completely healthy before pulling the trigger on the deal. Marion meanwhile, spent most of Friday after practice clearing the air about speculation.

The Miami Herald reports Marion became very frustrated about the on-going-off-the-court distractions, and made it known to the press that he did not demand a trade from the Heat.

Another player voicing his frustration to the media Friday was Marion’s former teammate, Amare Stoudemire.

As the Suns continue to find new ways to lose games in the final possession, they seem to sometimes forget they have a dominant forward on their team for minutes at a time. Stoudemire said they “will have to figure it out.”

The Arizona Republic reports that Amare took only one shot after the midway point of the third quarter against Denver, and with Shaq sitting out, that doesn’t make much sense.

In other news, as reported yesterday, The Bobcats and Mavericks completed a trade, but it wasn’t the one most people expected. Charlotte acquired Desagna Diop from Dallas for Matt Carroll and Ryan Hollins, but Dallas still has their eyes set on Raymond Felton.

Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson did acknowledge the club’s excitement over the two newest Mavericks, but also said the Felton talks were not dead yet. No word on who Charlotte would like in exchange for the guard.