Really. You are LOLing are you?
Lets take a poll and see how many people believe that O'Neal is as good as MArion is right now.
Is there anyone else here that would take O'Neal over Marion? If so lets here why.
What YOU need to understand is that O'Neal is a shell of his former self and is a slow it down player struggling on an up-tempo team. Marion needs to run to be effective and Miami almost never pushes the ball, despite having Wade. Not only that but Marion has been sharing duty with Beasley since they do many of the same things. It is hard to be effective playing your game when someone else plays the same game on your team.
Lets compare this year to the year most people think was his best 05-06. He is not that different a player player today despite the differences in stats..
His scoring is down about 9 points but there is more to it than that. This year he is attempting more than 6 shots less per game than that year. This is a direct result of not having Nash and sharing responsibilities with Beasley.
His shooting percentage is down from 05-06 but it is higher than every year he's ever had except 2. Not only that but his drop in percentage is almost precisely on par with the average drop in players shooting percentage after leaving Phoenix since Nash has been there. In other words he shoots the same as always but is not getting the same looks.
His rebounding is down but this can be directly attributed to that fact that he now plays mostly at the 3 spot, whereas in 05-06 he played the 4. Rebounds are much harder to come by at the 3.
Finally, he is playing about 4 minutes less per game. That accounts for a 10% drop statistically on its own.
The point of all this is that there is good reason to believe that in an up-tempo situation Shawn Marion can return to past form. He has possibly lost half a step but he still plays the same game he always did, he can still guard the 1-4 positions, and there is significant evidence that he can still be nearly as effective he was.
O'Neal has changed his game completely and that is the problem. He went from a beast under the basket to a 7 foot jumpshooter. He very well may be more effective for Miami than Toronto based on style of play, but he can not be anything like he was because his game no longer resembles what he once was.
So you can tell me to trust you all you want, and lol all you want, it doesn't change the fact that Marion is still an effective player and still has the ability to shine in the right system, while O'Neal looks nothing like himself.
Even the draft pick included in the trade is evidence that O'Neal not that player Marion is. Banks is a salary throw in, so essentially the trade is O'Neal, Moon, and a pick, for Marion. For this to be the case it would mean that both GMs agree that Marion is the better player. Do you really think you "understand" the game better than Colangelo and Pat Riley?
Oh one more thing - What would be the point of keeping Moon if Marion is on the team? Moon is essentially a very weak version of Marion, and would never see the floor again.