A really good blog post by a properly trained and edited writer would at this point proceed to do the following:
a) Explain how great Amare was in the past thereby demonstrating how great he can (potentially) be again
b) Lay out in stats, game performance anecdotes and perhaps fancy graphs or charts how poorly Amare is playing now
c) Include some relevant graphic or photo to peek your visual interest
d) Transition into an explanation of the pro's and con's of the question: Should the Suns trade Amare?
e) Conclude by telling you what you should think
I not being a properly trained writer and not being bound by the traditions, standards or protocols that make all such writing boring acceptable by journalistic stylistic norms will now skip straight to "e" under the assumption that:
1) if you are reading this blog you already know "a" and "b", don't really care about "c" and have probably discussed "d" ad nausea either in the comments on this or a similar online venue or perhaps with your dog or other best friend.
2) if you are reading this blog you don't want to read a story such as the excellent work produced by Sports Illustrated found here or more likely, prefer to supplement your reading with something a bit more....hmmm....crappy.
To the answer to the question...
No. Not yet anyway. Here's why:
- I am instinctively opposed to mid-season trades involving key starters on teams that are trying to compete. Note I did not say win a championship. The Suns goal is to improve over the past two years of not winning a series (beating the Lakers in 07 when they sucked doesn't count). A major trade like this at this point is going to take a team that is still trying to figure out how to play together and throw it yet again into mid-season pre-season mode. How many times can you do that and not be the Dallas Mavericks?
- Amare has done this before. For the past two seasons now this blog has been filled with Amare bashing posts only to see him turn it around and return to playing to his potential. I don't buy that he can't do it. I don't know why exactly he's not doing it but I don't buy that he can't do it again. He doesn't need to put up Dwight Howard or Tim Duncan numbers. He's not going to be a great rebounder or defender. He's probably never going to mature into a team leader. But if he brings the full effort every night he will give this team what it needs.
- There's still time. The trade deadline is February 19th. As noted in bullet #1 a trade of this magnitude would be tremendously disruptive so I would rather wait and be sure that
- i) you are going to get back exactly what you need which is a solid power forward that can shoot and rebound. David Lee. Louis Scola. Something like that plus you need to get at least one first round draft pick and in a perfect world a young point guard as well.
- ii) that he's going to turn out to be T-Mac or Vince Carter because if he goes to Oklahoma and becomes the top 5 player he can be you will never live it down
- Don't forget that he's got a restaurant with his name on it right across the street from the arena and you better believe that the quality of the food will decline fast if he's not there to oversee the kitchen (all joking aside, I ate there once and was totally unimpressed)
Bottom line. As long as Amare can put up 20 and 8 and do a fair to average job on defense than you wait and see what happens this season and make your move during the summer. Unless a perfect deal comes along that fills your immediate need for a starting power forward and gets you draft picks for the future.
Now, what do you think?
