The Amare Stoudemire trade rumors are in full swing as a result of the reported pending deal during the coverage of the 2009 NBA Draft on ESPN. The deal involves sending Amare Stoudemire to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for essentially Andris Beidrins and the #7 pick of the draft, Stephen Curry. Brandan Wright, Marco Belinelli and Kelena Azuibuke have also been mentioned as part of the deal.
The core of the rumor suggests the Phoenix Suns are primarily interested in bringing Andris Biedrins and Stephen Curry over to the team. There seems to be crowds on both sides of the fence regarding this deal and rightfully so. But the fact of the matter is Amare needs to be traded and Both teams should be happy to make this deal on July 8th (the earlierst date this deal can be made).
Why the Suns Like This Deal
Amare Stoudemire has been the building block of the Phoenix Suns for recent years. He's an All-Star that can dominate the game offensively and does so efficiently. In Amare's best 2 offensive games last season he scored 42 points on 20 shots and 49 points on just 21 shots. In his worst 2 offensive games last year he scored 3 points on 0-7 shooting and 11 points on 13 shots. I'm leaving out the time he scored just 8 points because he did it in 11 minutes on just 6 shots.
The point is that Amare is instant offense and even on his worst nights the number of shots he takes is limited which allows for the other players to adjust and give the rest of the team an opportunity at better shot selection. This is something the Warriors need, not the Suns.
I don't know if the rest of you remember a guy by the name of Tim Thomas. Yeah. He used to be considered the cancer of the Bulls until he came to Phoenix where Steve Nash put him in the spotlight just long enough to bait the Clippers into paying him a bloated salary Phoenix wasn't about to match. Steve Nash tends to do that. He's the choreographer of the offensive madness that goes on during games.
Phoenix can score. We saw that last year after Amare got injured so why keep him? Will the team miss his defense? Will the team get frustrated watching him go up against the pick and roll? With Amare losing interest in the Suns, we either get what we can out of him while he is still valuable or watch him leave for nothing. Amare wants to extend his deal with a max contract and that goes against the interest of the Suns.
With Shaq gone, we either hope we can trade Ben Wallace for Tyson Chandler or pull the trigger on this deal and bring in Andris Biedrins. With Tyson Chandler our best bet is for him to avoid his injury issues and turn his game around to average the numbers he used to have which, by the way, Andreis Biedrins already does.
Andris Biedrins brings in a young, under the radar center that is an absolute beast on the boards. Last year he averaged over 11 rebounds a game and throughout his career shoots over 60%. That's exactly what you want your center to do and that's precisely the void we fill as a result of sending Shaq to the Cavaliers.
As an added bonus to the deal, the possibility of bringing over Stephen Curry makes the decision on the Suns end fairly easy. Granted, Stephen Curry wasn't on the best of college teams but whenever he did go up against some of the bigger forces in college, he stepped up his game and played to their level. As far as sheer amount of talent coming out of the draft, many feel he is top 2 and Dickie V feels he'll win rookie of the year. I don't know I'd go that far but the excitement of bringing over a future star in Curry as well as filling a desperately needed hole in exchange for Amare is the best possible deal for the Suns at this point in time.
Why the Warriors Like This Deal
Even Golden State Warriors fans love the Amare Stoudemire rumor. Despite the excitement of bringing over a guard to potentially replace Monta Ellis, Curry is still a project. That's just the way the draft works in the NBA. Some guys just don't pan out like they were supposed to. That's the reason why Michael Jordan wasn't picked first in the draft and Kwame Brown was.
The Golden State Warriors need to shake things up and turn their team around now. They need to start heading in the right direction and start working with pieces that will give them the best opportunity to win right now. You can hope for draft picks to singlehandedly turn your team around at some point in the future but it's not something in which you should rely. You don't know how that pick is going to turn out and you don't know if they will even re-sign by the time they are good enough.
As long as the Warriors are willing to extend Amare's contract and pay him what he wants, he can be the guy the Warriors depend on to get them back on track to the playoffs.
Why Both Teams Like This Deal
Obviously Phoenix minimizes the risk of having Amare leave in 2010 for a team in a better position to pay him what he wants. They fill starting center spot and are not forced on relying on Robin Lopez to start at the center position which gives him more time to develop as a player. The Suns allow more room at the 3 and 4 position to develop the young talent they already have as well as rely on Steve Nash to get the most amount of offense as possible. This also allows for more defensive aware players to get more minutes which is something that Alvin Gentry has hoped to obtain. The Suns would also receive a potential future stud to increase their success in the long term without jepeordizing much success in the short term.
This trade allows Golden State to fulfil their need of getting back on track and heading in the right direction toward the ultimate goal. When the ultimate goal is always a championship for the team, sometimes you need to focus on heading in the right direction now instead of potentially heading in the right direction in the future. The Warriors also minimize loss because relying on a #7 draft pick to be their future star is not only questionable but only buys hope. Instead of relying on hope, sometimes it's best to guarantee success.
