I knew the Pau Gasol trade caused ripples throughout the NBA, but I did not foresee it scaring the bejeezus out of teams as it apparently has done to the Suns. As rumor has it, Shaq is going to Phoenix for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around this.

As far as the Suns front office goes, I can understand why they think they'd need to do this on the surface. But for every seemingly valid reason, I can't help but doubt it in the end.

1) Nash is 34 (as of tomorrow) and his window is closing.
     Yes, Nash is getting older and his back is some reason for concern. However, his output would seem to indicate otherwise. His PER almost identical to the last three years, two of which he won the MVP. If you look at the overall picture, he's actually IMPROVED with age. His window seems to still be wide open.
2) Amare isn't a center and getting a true center will save him the fouls he gets at the C position.
    Maybe. But I'm not sure. I think the logic is good, but the player is wrong. Shaq is a foul machine himself (1 foul every 7 minutes). If anything, I wonder if Amare will have to not only make up for Shaq's defensive limitations to come over to block shots, but also recover for whoever Shawn Marion would have been guarding. Marion is an overrated defender, but he's still better than Grant Hill and Boris Diaw. Shaq has always been susceptible to the pick and roll, and teams know this. Getting Shaq out top fully defeats the purpose of acquiring him to plug up the lane. If they got him to counter Bynum, good luck. Bynum's most effective rolling hard and quick to the cup - exactly what Shaq is not. If they got him to counter Duncan, frankly, Timmy has owned Amare AND Shaq in the post. Shaq's just not the defensive presence he used to be and I don't see him helping Amare that much. Instead, now they're below average defensively at 4 of the 5 positions (only Raja is above average and he's replaced by Barbosa, who, as a 1 on 1 defender is average at best). This will have to be a gambling team, hoping to create turnovers off of steals. Those kinds of teams don't generally make it far in the playoffs.
3) The playoffs are a halfcourt style game, where the game slows down and big men are a premium. Thus as currently constructed, a title is out of reach so the risk is worth it.
    So, the system that has made you so successful is going to be abandoned? This team won 60+ games the last two years, is on pace for another 60(ish), and made the Western Conference finals two of the last 3 years, and probably should have been in the finals last year (ahem, Robert Horry). I've heard it argued that Shaq will be the inbounder and you don't need 5 guys to run a break. Ok, well, first I find it amusing that it's automatically assumed they'll be INBOUNDING the ball and not REBOUNDING the ball. Anyway, Marion was the best guy on the team besides Amare for finishing those breaks. He fit the system perfectly and the system was working. Traditionally, teams keep their core intact and build towards a championship after several years of failure. If this crew couldn't do it this year, I could understand the move, but right now, it just doesn't seem to be worth the risk.
4) Shaq will be rejuvenated by his return to contender status.
    This is probably true. For a short while. But all reports show he's still not recovered from his injury. The safe bet is, he'll be injured again. Even in his prime, injuries were constant concern. All the rejuvenation in the world doesn't heal old and creaky, and Shaq is only getting older and creakier.
5) Financially, this is better because Marion doesn't have to be extended.
    Well, Marion didn't have to be extended anyway and his contract ends in 2009. Shaq's goes to 2010, by which time you're almost guaranteed he'll be a huge albatross around the team's neck, whereas Marion would at least still be young and spry.
6) Shaq helps match up with the big Western Conference teams.
    True. But they also now match up better with you. Your biggest advantage - quickness, speed and athleticism - is diminished. I think Marion is a better fit.
7) Marion is a malcontent and a cancer who needs to be traded.
    Malcontent, yes. But he's always been that way. He's never felt like he got his due. But it never affected his play on the court. An pouting Marion is still better than a happy yet creaky Shaq (who will, inevitably, become a pouting and creakier Shaq).

In the end, I could be very wrong about all of this. Maybe the frontline of Shaq, Amare and Hill is big enough to match up with Odom, Gasol and Bynum. Maybe Shaq, now motivated, has his ailments suddenly disappear and he works himself frantically to get in better shape. Maybe Nash can get Shaq the ball in positions where he can be effective again. Yes, maybe. I just have my doubts.

As poet and philosopher George Santayana once said, "Those who refuse to learn from history are condemned to repeat it." No fan base should be more cognizant of this than that of the Lakers. After the acquisition of Pau Gasol, the automatic assumption on the part of so many Lakers fans that the title is on its way to Tinseltown is ignorant at best, and arrogant at worst. If anything, Lakers fans should know better than any fanbase that games aren't won on paper. Or need I bring up the names of 4 future hall of famers who played for a certain 03-04 Lakers squad?

If Lakers fans have blocked out the memory of that humiliation, then how about a more recent case? Does the 2008 New England Patriots ring loud enough? Was there a surer thing than that team? For months, the fans of other cities had to endure the incessant squaking of Bostonites, as they assumed that the destiny of the Lombardi trophy was to rest in Brady's Midas-like hands.

As a Lakers fan myself, I'm not saying we shouldn't be excited about this trade. We should be. The buzz in Los Angeles is something unfelt since the Lakers were building up towards their first championship run in 2000, when 45-year-old soccer moms, 18-year-old punk-rockers and 30-year-old trade-brokers were all flying Lakers flags on their car windows. Hell, even if we didn't get Gasol, trading Kwame for a drunken version of C3PO would have been cause for celebration. But I cringe when I read posts trashing the chances of other squads which range from the good (Golden State, Cavs, Houston, Denver) to the very good (Jazz, New Orleans, Mavericks) to the excellent (Spurs, Suns, Celts, Pistons). If you noticed, I named 8 Western Conference teams there. If you throw in Portland (who I still believe is overachieving somewhat) and the Lakers (and it's still unclear which category they'll fall into), something has got to give and NOTHING is a given.

I don't mean to be Debbie Downer here, but let's, as Lakers fans, show some humility and class and let the season play out. This should be one of the greatest finishes to a regular season in NBA history, and we should be grateful the Lakers are right in the mix. We're a city that prides itself on its championship banners, as we should be. But it's the excitement of the challenging matchups along the way that makes the season memorable and the victories sweet. Let's not demean the quality of our rival cities' teams, as it, in the end, only diminishes the quality of our own.