Quote:
Originally Posted by jthig32
I think both of you have valid points. I don't think there's any question that Marion is a product of what he has around him, to some extent. He doesn't create his own offense so he's more dependent on his offensive system than most.
HOWEVER, Marion is the type of player who is going to decline very, very quickly. I mean I expect his productivity to just drop off a cliff at some point. This is because is game is SO based on speed and athleticism. So you just better hope (or know) that he's not going to lose those abilities early in his new contract.
And, please remember that he's a bit of a knucklehead that was more interested in a larger role on a bad team that continuing to contribute on a good team in Phoenix. This must be remembered and taken into account.
But the bottom line is you'd be adding a valuable, fringe-all star level player for nothing. I mean people were talking themselves into trading Josh for this guy last year. So it would be a large upgrade, and honestly, a bigger one than I have been expecting.
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This is what concerns me as well. As you said, if there was ever a player that depended on his athleticism, it was Marion. So when that is gone, he's pretty much done as a player.
Did anyone watch him play last year? I realize that system wasn't great for him as a player, but his dip in stats does concern me that he is losing some athleticism. I certainly didn't care to watch any Raptor games though so I can't say for certain what the reason was.
Hopefully we get a player that still has some legs left because even with the knucklehead factor, he was a darn good player in a Suns uniform, and reuniting with a passer like Kidd might bring out some of his game again. I'll cross my fingers that's what happens.
Considering we only had to give up Stack's contract to make this deal happen, I'll go ahead and back this move. I'm not sure what we could have realistically expected back in return that was much better unless we managed to package it up with several other players. Even with that option, I'm not sure what other pieces were out there.