Amare Madness
Amare Stoudemire is now on the block (or so says the always unreliable NBA rumor mill) so where might he be heading? Who has enough to get the talented PF and who is willing to risk adding the potential headcase? How much would you be willing to give up for a guy who might be gone in a couple of years?
A few things to consider:
Amare is still Amare: Sorry Cleveland, but Wally's expiring deal and a bucket of bums isn't going to be enough to get the starting power forward for the Western Conference All-Stars. Teams are going to have to give up a good chunk of talent in order to land Stoudemire. The only way they are going to get a discount is if they also agree to take Leandro Barbosa's deal but since he too is a solid player, I can't imagine it will take much off of Amare's price tag.
Amare doesn't play defense: If you have a coach that stresses defense then you probably won't be getting Amare. Miami could make an interesting offer for Stoudemire but I really can't imagine that he would fit in with the defense first coaching staff out there.
Shaq and Nash are Old: Golden State could offer Monta Ellis, Kelenna Azubuike, Brandan Wright, and Marcus Williams (which is a ton) but are the Suns really going to want to get younger when they are trying to make a last run with Shaq and Steve? Personally, I think that offer is almost too good to turn down but I'm a believer in Wright and Azubuike. Will Steve Kerr believe in the potential of those guys?
With that in mind, here are the top 5 options for a deal. (Ignoring the multi-team PF swap I mentioned in an earlier post)
#5: Chicago: A deal with Chicago moves Amare out of conference which is something a lot of GM's seem focused on. But what can they give up? Nocioni and Deng? Add in Ty Thomas? Personally, I'd pretty much offer anyone except Derrick Rose but who knows if Paxson will finally be willing to part with his beloved baby Bulls.
#4: Portland: Amare and Barbosa for LaMarcus Aldridge, Travis Outlaw, Channing Frye, Jerryd Bayless and Raef Lafrentz's contract is an option. The Blazers could also replace a name in there with Nicolas Batum as well since they have a bit of a logjam at the small forward spot. The questions are whether Phoenix would send Amare within their division and also whether Portland wants to mess with their team chemistry. I'm not a huge Aldridge fan so I'd gladly roll the dice on Amare, especially if I could get him for (essentially) Aldridge, Outlaw, and Bayless.
If Chicago and Portland can't pull the trigger, Atlanta could swoop in by offering Al Horford or Josh Smith in a deal. The question is: do they have enough (or will they offer enough) along with one of those two in order to make a deal work?
#3 Oklahoma City: Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith, Jeff Green and the Thunder's #1 draft pick (Blake Griffin protected). This could be the best of both worlds for Phoenix. They get veteran big men in Wilcox and Smith, a young improving forward in Green, and a top draft pick. Oklahoma City could just have the three of most explosive young players at their positions (Westbrook, Durant, Amare).
#2: New Jersey: Vince Carter for Amare Stoudemire. Vince is having a great year and I could only imagine an offensive backcourt of Nash, Jason Richardson, and Vince. Granted, I'm not sure any of them can imagine the defensive end so it has it's problems but this could be the kind of deal that goes down. Amare goes to the Eastern Conference, Nash and Shaq get someone to make a run this year. Maybe the Nets throw in someone else (Yi?) but I could see this being the deal that goes down. Devin Harris and Amare is a dynamic duo that should be interesting to watch (and a Lopez/Amare frontcourt isn't too shabby either). If they can't get this to happen, maybe they go after T-Mac and Carl Landry in Houston.
#1: Detroit: The Pistons want to reload. The Suns want to make a run. It's almost a perfect fit. Phoenix dumps Leandro Barbosa's contract along with Amare (and Jared Dudley) and get back Rasheed Wallace and the unhappy Rip Hamilton.
