In what could be a preview of a year-long problem for an extremely old Dallas Mavericks team in a compressed NBA season, starting SF Shawn Marion missed the team's shoot-around Wednesday morning with an illness and is questionable to play against the Phoenix Suns tonight.
Marion played for the Suns for the first eight seasons of his career, making four All-Star teams as the third wheel behind Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire, before going through a two-year journey though the NBA's hinterlands that eventually brought him to Dallas.
His defensive versatility has been huge for the Mavericks this season, but Phoenix does not have a lot of fire-power from the forward positions, so letting Marion get healthy might end up being the best move for the Mavericks, as they begin a stretch of three games in four nights.
If he cannot play, he is expected to be replaced in the starting line-up by Lamar Odom.