Can Danny: The Stud or The Mire
The most talked about name of this offseason will most likely be Amar'e Stoudemire. While most teams would probably prefer to go after Chris Bosh, the odds are that Bosh will choose his destination. Amar'e, on the other hand, is a man without a country. He's a super talent but he's also injury prone and has a lousy reputation as a locker room malcontent. The Suns haven't really hid the fact that they want to move him but they couldn't find any takers. So while Amar'e might actually be a better talent than Bosh, he could end up getting treated like the best expiring deal/salary dump ever.
So what deals are out there?
The better question might be, are there any deals out there?
The Suns didn't get much interest in Stoudemire when he was available at the trade deadline. After the deadline, Amar'e got surgery on his eye and missed the rest of the season. I doubt that helped his trade value much.
Some people were already saying Amar'e might be a bit of a stat whore, citing that he doesn't play much defense and the last time the Suns got to the Conference Finals was when Amare missed almost the entire season due to injury.
On top of that, the recession coupled with a lower salary cap has teams fearing the luxury tax and being more mindful of the bottom line, especially in terms of second max contracts. Stoudemire might be a prodigious offensive talent but he comes with so many red flags that most owners will probably be scared away.
Case in point, the rumor du jour has Amar'e heading to Washington for Antawn Jamison and the #5 pick (and Mike James's expiring deal). I can't imagine the Wizards' owners are about to invest another 100 million on a guy who's coming off injury and has had microfracture surgery in the last few years. The Gilbert Arenas gamble didn't exactly pay off and they'd essentially be doubling down on two players with two good knees between them.
Another option is Chicago for Luol Deng (and Jerome James) but would the Suns really put themselves back behind the financial 8 ball by adding Deng's contract? Are the Bulls willing to bet Derrick Rose's future on Amar'e's? The better option might be Brad Miller's expiring contract and Ty Thomas, although Thomas has all of Stoudemire's attitude and half of the talent so I'm not sure how excited Phoenix is to acquiring and soon having to negotiate a contract with him. And, of course, after his showing in the first round, I wouldn't be stunned if some Bulls loyalists feel that Thomas is, all things considered, just plain better than Amar'e. (And given Stoudemire's lack of defense and probable contract demands, it's not a completely silly argument)
Cleveland could look to add him in order to appease King James and the new investors from China probably give the Cavs enough capital to afford two second max deals but they don't really have anything to give up except another expiring deal so I'm not sure why Phoenix makes the trade unless Cleveland also agrees to take back another contract. Still, Amar'e and Jason Richardson for Z Ilgauskas, Ben Wallace, and JJ Hickson would probably be the most lopsided trade in NBA history. The Suns have to do better than that, no?
Dallas is an option if the Mavs and Suns want to shuffle talented yet at times troublesome expiring deals in a trade of Amar'e for Josh Howard (and filler). I could see Mark Cuban being crazy enough to make this trade; it would make Dallas an interesting team but I'm not sure how much better they'd actually get.
New York could get a deal done (especially if they do a sign-and-trade with David Lee) but does Mike D'Antoni really want to deal with Stoudemire again? If D'Antoni is down for it, the best deal might be some sort of sign-and-trade with David Lee, an expiring deal, and the #8 pick for Amar'e. Of course, I doubt that the Knicks would be willing to give up the #7 pick. After all, Stoudemire has said he wants to go to New York so they have all the leverage in the deal. They could just sit back and wait for Amar'e to come as a free agent so why would they give up the #7 pick or a talent like Wilson Chandler? In fact, it'd almost be better for them to wait out the year to see how Stoudemire recovers. (And from the Suns POV, I think David Lee is about to get overpaid this year so I'm not sure I'd want his contract in return for Stoudemire).
If Detroit misses out on Carlos Boozer would they make a run at Stoudemire? If Miami can't get Bosh, could they look to use Jermaine O'Neal's expiring contract to grab Amare? (Hell, they could go all out and go after both Amar'e and Bosh).
Finally, there's Amar'e, Jared Dudley, #14 for Brandan Wright, Stephen Jackson (or Corey Maggette), Jamal Crawford, and #7. An interesting offer as the Suns get a young prospect in Wright and move up the draft while the Warriors dump some contracts and add a guy who could be amazing in Don Nelson's offense but would the Warriors re-sign Amar'e? Would they be willing to give up Wright and move down for a one year rental and a slashing of a couple of salaries? Would Phoenix think Wright and the pick are worth taking on the 20 million in 2010 that Crawford and Jackson will cost? It seems like a long shot.
The Chicago deal is probably the best but I really have to wonder if the Bulls (and everyone else) won't just wait until next year when they can just sign Amar'e rather than having to give up anything of value for him. The Suns could just wait until the trade deadline but then they'd have even less leverage. Everyone knows that Amar'e wants out and, so far, nobody has shown the desire to give up much of anything in return for him. Suns fans can't be happy right now as they now that the odds are looking like they favor the Suns getting the worse end of the deal for one of their best players.
