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As we prepare for the conclusion of the 2025 NBA Trade Deadline madness, this just so happens to be the date of one of the more surprising deals in NBA deadline history. Back in 2008, we saw the Phoenix Suns completely change their identity in the blink of an eye. Starting in 2004-05, the Suns became the future of the NBA in real time. With defensive rules relaxed to open up more scoring, the Suns had their first full season under Mike D’Antoni on the sideline and their first season with newly acquired Steve Nash. Thus, the Seven Seconds Or Less offense was born, and the identity of the Suns was about to flip the defensive-minded, slow-paced NBA on its head.
For the next three and a half seasons, the Suns were the greatest show in the league, and a very successful show at that. They won 62, 54 and 61 games in three straight seasons with back-to-back appearances in the Western Conference finals. They lost to San Antonio and Dallas in those series, and then again lost to the Spurs in the second round of the 2007 postseason. But the Suns were thriving, even when Amar’e Stoudemire was coming back from a serious knee injury. They just plugged in versatile players and threw a style of organized chaos at defenses that left them bewildered most nights. Nash won two MVP awards, and the identity of the Suns was one you had to really combat and game plan against.
Then, in the summer of 2007, Steve Kerr was hired to be the general manager of the Suns. This was long before he became a championship-winning coach for the Warriors. Kerr was tasked with shaping the present and future of the most entertaining product on the court. Halfway through his first season as GM in the desert, he decided to throw the biggest wrench possible into the mix.
At the deadline in 2008, Kerr traded Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks for Shaquille O’Neal.
Take a trip down memory lane and reminisce on Shaq’s trade to Phoenix here.
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