Since there's been some talk about trade ideas, here is this idea, which serves both the present and the future. Here we trade with the Nets.

The Suns trade:

• Leandro Barbosa 4 yr/27.4M
  
• Alando Tucker 1 yr/1M
  
• their 2009 1st Round Pick
• their 2009 2nd Round Pick

The Suns receive

• Trenton Hassell 2 yr/8.7M
• Josh Boone 1 yr/1.5M (team option in 2009-2010)
  
• Marcus Williams 1 yr/1.2M (team option in 2009-2010)
• the Nets 2010 1st Round Pick

Benefit for the Nets:

The Nets are now in a full rebuilding mode, aiming at signing Lebron in the off-season after 2009-2010. To sign him, they will need 1) cap space and 2) an attractive enough team. Barbosa does not hurt their future cap space very much, and in 2010 is a much more attractive asset in terms of age/contract/ego than their current SG, Vince Carter (who will be 33 at that point). Furthermore, Barbosa allows them to move Carter if they want (and can), giving them potentially the fastest backcourt in the league when you team him with Devin Harris. Unlike Harris, however, Barbosa can shoot. Additionally, the Nets get our 2009 1st pick so they can double up for the second straight year and accelerate their rebuilding process to be prepared for 2010. Tucker is just a final throw-in that adds SF depth and  might be nice, but can also be released after one year.

In terms of sacrifice, the Nets lose a fine prospect Boone, who is an impressive rebounder but has offensive limitations. With their new glut at the 4 and 5, however, (S. Williams, B. Lopez, R. Anderson, Y. Jianlian, S. Swift, and possibly N. Krstic), they  should not be overly opposed to moving one of their young bigs. Also, Marcus Williams is a nice backup PG, but considering the floor time Devin Harris is like to see and the fact that Barbosa can play PG in a pinch, I think the Nets would be willing to sacrifice him as well. Not to mention that whatever hit their team quality takes as a result of a lack of PG depth doesn't really hurt their draft position. Last, they also lose their 2010 pick, but since they have Dallas' pick as well, I believe they can tolerate this loss.

Benefit for the Suns:

The Suns get depth and back into the 2010 draft. Josh Boone is a relatively similar player to R. Lopez, but if what we're trying to do is find a) front court depth and b) a future defensive counterpart for Amare then I see no reason not to double down and make signing Skinner unnecessary. Plus, I have much more faith in Boone than in Lopez. Marcus Williams gives us a solid backup PG with 3pt range who, should Dragic be available next year, can be released after this season. Trenton Hassell is likely primed for the 11th or 12th spot on the bench, but his contract runs out after 2009-2010 i.e. at the same time as Shaq's and Nash's. Also, it is not a bad thing to have a good perimeter defender at the end of the bench. Last, we receive the 2010 pick, which gets us back into the 2010 draft at a likely decent spot.

The Suns sacrifice, primarily, Barbosa. We will miss his scoring and shooting, but with backup PG and front court depth settled, we can focus our attention on Giricek who can replace some of LB's contributions. Hassell can also give us minutes in a pinch. We also lose our picks next year, which is tough (it was so exciting to draft this year), but we do gain a better pick (the Nets in 2010) in a hopefully a better draft (2009 is no 2008). Plus, not having any picks after next season will leave us with that much more cap room after 09-10. Last, I see the loss of Tucker as minimal.

Conclusion:

It's a trade for a possible future starter (Boone) and present depth. I do worry that the Nets might be hesitant to lose Boone, in which case S.Williams seems a fine option as well. The key is the switching of picks. Without that, I don't know if I see enough motivation to make this deal.

Anyone else think this is a good idea or am I talking stupid? Either is possible.