The Amare Stoudemire trade talks could finally come to an end on Monday. In his Washington Post article today, Michael Wilbon mentioned that Amare Stoudemire probably would be traded on Monday. It seems like the question of “Whether Stoudemire will be traded or not?” has been answered. But one question remains, to who?

A report form the Sacramento Bee from earlier in the day suggested that the Bulls and Cavaliers were the two teams still in the running. But a report from Ken Berger of CBS Sports says that the Cavaliers never had serious talks with the Suns and are now pursuing Marcus Camby.

This corroborates with the reputable Cavaliers poster, Wine and Gold, who sent Cavs Nation in a frenzy when they overreacted to one of his posts last night and thought it meant that they had landed Amare. Today, he took a more sobering view, trying to lower the expectations of Cavs fans.

Amare Stoudemire going to the Cavaliers never made much sense. The package they were offering did less to help the Suns shed salary this year than the proposed Bulls package, and the young player in that deal has much lower potential than Tyrus Thomas. The proposed Bulls deal at least gives the Suns a player who they can be hopeful about. I don’t think any sane NBA fan thinks that Hickson has any type of serious potential like Tyrus Thomas does.

So with the Cavaliers being out of the running, that means that Amare Stoudemire is coming to the Bulls. Right? Not quite, according to Arizona Central, the Blazers might be in it again. This time for a package of Raef Lafrentz, Jerryd Bayless, and a first round pick.

I just can’t see this package going through. For starters, a potential Bulls trade of Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas, and Cedric Simmons for Amare Stoudemire, Louis Amundson, and Matt Barnes does more to save Phoenix money this year than Portland’s package of Raef Lafrentz and Jerryd Bayless for the same Phoenix package. The Bulls package would save Phoenix $4.022 million this year (in cap, not actual money), getting Phoenix down to $71.74 million in salary. The Portland trade would only save the Suns $1.949 million. It is pretty much impossible to find a workable scenario where a Portland trade based around a package of Lafrentz and Bayless can shed more money on the Suns cap than a Bulls trade based around Gooden, Thomas, and Simmons.

The Blazers deal may be able to save the Suns a little more money if this was the only trade they were to make. But with the Bulls trade, the Suns would just have to do a small trade to slide under the luxury tax threshold of $71.15 million. If the Suns can get under the luxury tax threshold, not only do they no longer pay the tax, but they will get some money in luxury tax revenues. So the Bulls package can do more for the Suns in terms of getting the Suns under the luxury tax than the Blazers can, which presents the best money saving option for the Suns.

It is also unlikely for this package to go through because it would set up Portland to compete for championships for near a decade. The Blazers may be able to contend with just what they have right now. Adding Amare to the mix would surely make them championship contenders, but not only that, powerful championship contenders. Yes, the Suns are rebuilding, but you have to believe they have enough foresight to see that putting together Brandon Roy, Rudy Fernandez, Amare Stoudemire, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Greg Oden will keep them out of the finals for many years.

I do think however, that the Suns and Blazers could be talking trades. Perhaps the Blazers could facilitate an Amare trade between the Bulls and Suns. NewsOK, mentioned Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng as potential Blazers. Or maybe the reports are what they appear on the surface and the Blazers are pursuing Stoudemire hard. I just don’t see them being the team that gets Stoudemire, especially for the rumored package. I don’t think Steve Kerr and Robert Sarver want to hear about how they were Pritchslapped for the next few years.

Oklahoma City has also sprung up as a potential destination for Amare Stoudemire. What they would trade has yet to be determined.

I actually think Oklahoma City can put together the best package. They have the best young talent to trade away in Jeff Green and five first round draft picks in the next two years. A deal based around Jeff Green, Chris Wilcox, and Saer Sene would do more to shed money from Phoenix’s salary numbers this year than the Chicago or Phoenix packages. But they are not really being treated as serious contenders by the media, just as a team that will end up as an also ran. Pairing Kevin Durant with Amare Stoudemire is something the Suns probably aren’t too interested in doing, since the Thunder are in the same conference as them.

There is a little bit of inside info regarding the Bulls in this trade. InsideInfo of the RealGM forums, who is a legitimate insider, says that Tyrus Thomas, Cedric Simmons, and Thabo Sefolosha all would welcome trades, but Drew Gooden is reluctant to be traded.

Chris Ballard in his SI.com column made it seem as though the Chicago beatwriters are confident that an Amare trade will be done. According to John Hollinger, the Bulls package of Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas, Thabo Sefolosha, and Cedric Simmons is the leader in the Suns’ clubhouse as we approach the trade deadline.

So do today’s rumors make it seem as if Amare to the Bulls is more likely to get done? Not really. But they do seem to indicate that an Amare trade is imminent. And if Wilbon is correct, it might just be done by Monday. We can only hope that it will be to the Bulls.

Similar Posts:

• Amare Stoudemire: Breaking Through the Rumors
• The Amare Stoudemire Report (Morning of February 11th, 2009)
• Amare Trade Talks Comes Back To Bulls
• Amare Still Available From Suns Cash Crunch?
• Bulls and Blazers Talking Hinrich Trade?

Tags: Amare Stoudemire, Cedric Simmons, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Drew Gooden, J.J. Hickson, Jeff Green, Jerryd Bayless, Ken Berger, Louis Amundson, Marcus Camby, Matt Barnes, Michael Wilbon, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trailblazers, Raef Lafrentz, RealGm, Robert Sarver, Steve Kerr, Thabo Sefolosha, Tyrus Thomas, Wine and Gold

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 15th, 2009 at 2:58 am and is filed under Commentary, Rumors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.