FanPost

Amar'e to Golden State trumped by Kerr

Editor's Note: I am going to co-opt this well-written post which leads into exactly what I need to cover this morning. I'll add my thoughts and additional information at the end.

By now most everyone has heard the rumors involving Phoenix Suns F Amar'e Stoudemire going to the Golden State Warriors in return for C Andris Biedrins, F Brandan Wright and/or SG Marco Belinelli, the tipping point on either side is the seventh pick in the draft, Davidson PG Stephen Curry. He of course will make or break the deal, in part because the Warriors did not necessarily expect him to be on the board and would have been much more willing to deal if this had been Arizona F Jordan Hill, and after seeing the potential of Curry they may want to hold on to him.

While the general consensus is that this deal will be made with Curry headed to the desert both general managers have denied this deal even being in consideration that in fact Steve Kerr went so far as to call the rumor "totally false," and Larry Riley said he drafted Curry with no intentions to trade him.

That, however, does not mean this is not still in the works. It was reported by a local newspaper that the Suns draft room cheered in excitement when Curry was taken off the board which may be considered a sign coinciding with the fact that trade talks began before the draft and even before the Amar'e to Houston rumors surfaced.

There is not a single NBA analyst who has not already said that Steve Kerr has single-handedly removed an entire era of NBA changing basketball in the Seven Seconds or Less Suns and should he not push this deal many may wonder if he has any sense at all.

Considering the potential of Curry and Wright paired with the substantially lesser contract of Andris Biedrins in comparison to Stoudemire's hefty contract  this deal may be the next step into the rebuilding process that Kerr himself initiated, it would be questionable if he decided to not go forward into the future with new talent and rather rebuild around the maximum contract of Stoudemire.

Everyone from Chad Ford and Chris Mannix to local sports writers Paul Coro and Dan Bickley have said they believe this deal will be done, most pointing out that if this deal was not discussed then it would have made much more sense for the Warriors to have drafted a "true" point guard instead of a player similar to Monta Ellis, or even a much needed PF in Jordan Hill, all talks at this point are unkowns.  What is known is that because of Biedrins base year compensation the deal won't be completed until at least Wednesday if indeed this deal is actually in the works and unless the Suns are willing to add another marquee player this may be the best option going into the future.

Thoughts from Stan

I understand that this a very complicated deal with a LOT of moving parts. Amare's health status needs to be verified. The Warriors for good reason what to know that Amare isn't going to bolt at the end of next year which leads to extension discussions with him and puts power in Amare's hands. The Warriors are reportedly getting cold feet about letting Curry go. There are four other players involved who all need to be evaluated and haggled over.

These are all things we've been talking about since February and reasons why it would be difficult to trade Amare.

None of that though justifies Steve Kerr flat out lying to the fans. Again. During all star week he came on the radio on Thursday and flatly denied that Terry Porter's job was in jeopardy. At that point we all know it was and in fact three days later Porter was gone.

Now we have local media in Phoenix and Oakland along with the national media getting reports out of league exec's in New York all saying the same thing: A deal is not only one the table but all but done pending the July 1 start of the free agency period.

So why would Kerr tell the media in Phoenix last night that rumors of an Amare to the Warriors deal is "absolutely false".  Why Steve, can't you just give your standard non-answer of "we talk to people all the time". Why try and spin this in such an obviously false way? It just doesn't make sense and if anything if only hurts Kerr. We all know that the deal is being discussed. The players involved know it's being discussed. Why damage your credibility by denying it even if the deal ends up falling through? It boggles the mind.

As for other draft days news, here's a shocker. The Suns sold a pick, in this case the #57 pick Emir Preldzic. This reminds us of when the Suns sold the rights to 2nd round pick Marcin Gortat a few years back. At the time it seemed harmless enough but look how that turned out. Maybe Kerr figures he won't be around in a few years of Preldzic ends up being a player for the Cavs.

 

Oklahoma F Taylor Griffin was described by Suns VP of Basketball Operations as a "Louis Amundson-type" which is nice since we have Lou already. We'll see how that plays out.

I haven't looked at the numbers myself yet, but the Suns are saying their payroll going forward --not counting the Pavlovic expected buyout---is 3-to-4 million dollars over the tax shreshold.  Kerr said that was a "reasonable...manageable number".

 

 

Here's more audio from draft night. Audio provided by Sports 620 KTAR: