The Amare Stoudemire Report (Morning of February 11th, 2009)
February 11th, 2009 by Andrew WamboldtEvery new days brings more and more rumors regarding the potential trading of the Suns’s Amare Stoudemire. Here are the latest rumors out there.
The big rumor is that the Portland Trail Blazer’s are discussing a blockbuster offer with the Suns.
The latest trade rumor involving Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire is indeed a juicy one: The Portland Trail Blazers reportedly are offering forward LaMarcus Aldridge and guard Jerryd Bayless as part of a package for the young star.
CBSSports.com, citing “a person with direct knowledge of the talks,” reported Tuesday that Portland also would deal big man Raef LaFrentz and his expiring $12.7 million contract.
That is a great mixture of young talent and a big expiring contract. I would have to believe this makes Portland the front runner if this offer is indeed true. Could the Suns choose the Bulls package over the Blazers package? Maybe. The value of Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah has been surging lately, and I doubt the Suns will want to create a trio of Brandon Roy, Amare Stoudemire, and Greg Oden, that they would have to go through in the playoffs every year if they had any hopes of competing in the next decade.
Another interesting rumor comes Yahoo! Sports, which says that the Suns owner, Robert Sarver, is directly talking to teams about potential trades. On the surface, this appears bad for the Bulls, because it could take Steve Kerr out of the equation, who would probably want Stoudemire traded to the Bulls if at all possible. But there is a strong chance that Sarver is only talking to the Kings and Grizzlies as a negotiating ploy with the Bulls. It makes no sense for Stoudemire to be traded to either of those teams because neither is good, and would have a strong probability of losing Stoudemire in 2010.
The third set of rumors, as chronicled in this forum post, from NBA TV, are by far the most intriguing. David Alridge began by saying that Amare will be moved by the deadline.
Frank Isola, beat writer for the New York Daily News, said that one of his sources within the Knicks organization said that they believe Amare has already been traded to an Eastern Conference team, but that it will not be announced until after the Allstar Break in Phoenix. The Knicks source believes that the team that Amare has been traded to is either Chicago or Miami.
This rumor seems like it could be somewhat plausible. The Allstar Game will be in Phoenix and it can’t be good for Amare to be a representative for the Bulls or Heat starting for the Western team, getting booed mercilessly all game. As long as Amare is still a Sun during the Allstar Game, presumably the boo birds will restrain themselves.
Sam Smith then refuted what Isola had just said. Smith said that the Suns have informed the Bulls that they have received a better offer from another Eastern Conference team, although Smith says that this might just be a negotiating ploy by the Suns.
The longer this process draws out, it seems the more Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah’s value to the Bulls increases, as well as their trade value. Tyrus Thomas had 22 points and 10 rebounds last night, and Joakim Noah added in 12 points and 16 rebounds. Even if the Bulls cannot complete a trade for Stoudemire, it looks like they end up having a productive front court anyhow. We will continue to update as more news and rumors regarding the Amare Stoudemire situation surface.
Similar Posts:
- Sun To Set On Amare Trade Talks Monday?
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- Amare Stoudemire: Breaking Through the Rumors
- Amare Trade Talks Comes Back To Bulls
- Amare Stoudemire To Warriors Unlikely
Tags: Amare Stoudemire, Chicago Bulls, David Aldridge, Frank Isola, Joakim Noah, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, Sam Smith, trade, Tyrus Thomas
