Philadelphia 76ers: Top 5 draft selections in Bryan Colangelo’s career

4. Shawn Marion (SF/PF) — No. 9 pick in 1999 NBA Draft

“The Matrix” was a fixture for the best part of a decade for the Phoenix Suns, which included back-to-back trips to the Western Conference Finals. One of the best athletes of his era, Marion was an inspired choice at No. 9 in a very solid draft class that featured Duke’s Elton Brand as the No. 1 pick.

At 6’7″, Marion’s outstanding quickness and agility combined with his incredible athleticism made him a menace at both ends of the floor. These physical attributes gave him the ability to defend a number of positions, finishing with career numbers of 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.

Overall, Marion was a four-time All-Star and a member of the bronze medal-winning Team USA at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. At his absolute peak, Marion was simply one of the most valuable all-round players in the league. The following numbers over a five-year period illustrate just how dominant Marion was during this stretch.

But soon thereafter, after being unable to come to an agreement on a contract extension, Marion was sent packing by Colangelo to the Miami Heat in exchange for center Shaquille O’Neal. Ironically, shortly after he took over the reins with the Toronto Raptors, Colangelo orchestrated a deal with the Heat to bring Marion north of the border.

At the time of this transaction, Colangelo noted:

"“Shawn can pretty much guard anybody in the league and has always been, I thought, a very solid defender. He’s always been underrated as far as the perception of him. He’s a very solid defender, solid rebounder and he finds ways to score. I can’t think of a better complement to our team.”"

Following up from his success with the Suns, the latter stages of Marion’s career encompassed a five-year stint with the Dallas Mavericks. This included the ultimate reward, the 2011 NBA title, where the Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat, 4-2. Although past his athletic prime, Marion was nonetheless a key ingredient, averaging 13.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in 35.7 minutes per game in the Finals.

Following his time in Dallas, Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle was full of praise for Marion’s accomplishments:

"“He’ll go down as one of the all-time great Mavs because of his contributions to a championship team, number one. But number two is his versatility and his ability to do so many different things that contribute to winning.”"

Furthermore, 2011 Finals MVP and future of Hall-of-Famer, Dirk Nowitzki, was equally complimentary:

"“It was a great five years. He’s one of the most versatile defenders this league has ever seen. We basically had him guard anything from one (point guard) to sometimes even switch on fives (centers). He was the best at that, because he had the strength to play with big guys, but he also had the quickness to defend little guys, and the length. He was a special player. And on offense you never had to run a play for him and you look at the stat sheet and ended up with 15-20 points some nights and we didn’t run one single play for him. So he’s a special player.”"

Following an unsuccessful run at a title in 2015 as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Marion retired at age 36.