Shawn Marion is out with a groin injury: true or false?

AP Photo/Alan Diaz

Survey says...it's too early to tell. On a second night of a back-to-back, the Miami Heat faced the Oklahoma Thunder without their starting forward Shawn Marion due to a groin injury. Though Marion had been bothered by the groin injury earlier in the season, it came on a night where Marcus Banks and the Toronto Raptors own Jermaine O'Neal also did not see any time on the court. With Toronto being a front runner in the Matrix sweepstakes, this may be a clear indication that the "trade talk" has manifested into somewhat of a done deal.

Now there are also many things that say it could be just coincidence. Heat president Pat Riley denies any trade being finalized but does not deny that they are in trade talks with the Toronto Raptors. If anything is certain about Pat Riley's business negotiation strategy is that he will never show his hand until he knows he has won the pot.

Let's not forget that this is the same Pat Riley who said that talks about acquiring Shaq back in 2004 were nothing more than just rumors. The same Riley that said that Shaq was not on the trading block just days before dealing him to Phoenix in exchange for Shawn Marion. And his latest show of trickery came this last offseason when he stated that the Heat were not talking to point guard Shaun Livingston about possibly joining the team before the start of the season.

Though Riley is known for putting up smoke screens, this one may have some truth to it. Marion has been plagued with the reoccurring groin injury throughout the season. He has not missed many games due to it but it has been said that he has been playing with pain for some time.

The situation with Marcus Banks is nothing new to Heat fans. He has fallen out of the rotation in place of Chris Quinn and has not been able to get his job back due to his lack of play making. Not seeing Banks on the court doesn't raise a flag on a possible trade deal but really stands more like a reminder that if you can not get minutes behind a rookie point guard in Mario Chalmers and the undrafted Chris Quinn, you must be doing something wrong.

Toronto also sat out Jermaine O'Neal for a pair of games this past weekend. The Raptors simply said that they are trying to work him back in to the lineup slowly after O'Neal missed nine games with a sore knee. No surprise here, Jermaine has battled through injury for a good portion of his professional career.  And with Andrea Bargnani playing so well, it only makes sense not to rush J.O. in to an early return.

Though everything has a rational explanation, one can't help but to speculate -- especially when you have the Houdini of the trade game in Pat Riley at the head of the negotiations. If it is not a done deal, the only thing that may be holding up the trade is the fact that the Heat may want Toronto to showcase Jermaine just one more time and show Miami that his knee is not a big issue. Once it is all said and done, Miami may finally have the center they have needed since day one.