Trading for Stoudemire?
The Pistons are one of the teams talking with the Suns about trading for Amar’e Stoudemire, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. He also said the Bulls and Heat are the most serious in their discussions.
Chad Ford wrote the Heat are looking for cap relief, young players and draft picks. He also gave a few trade possibilities. Here’s Detroit’s:
PISTONS: Amir Johnson and Rasheed Wallace
• See this trade in the ESPN Trade Machine
Why they’d do it: Joe Dumars has the best track record in the league of rehabilitating players other teams have given up on. Under his wing, Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace thrived. Could he do the same for Stoudemire? Add Amare to young gun Rodney Stuckey and great team players such as Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, and the Pistons are a force again in the East.
The Suns get Wallace’s expiring contract, plus they get Johnson, a young big with a ton of potential.
Why they wouldn’t: If they stand pat, the Pistons potentially will have $20 million under the cap this summer with little competition for big-time free agents. If Amare were to bolt Detroit in 2010 or fail to fit in, the Pistons would have swung and missed on their best chance to build another contender.
The Suns wouldn’t be getting much here. Wallace comes off the books this summer, but is Johnson good enough to be a difference-maker? He’s been a little ordinary in Detroit this year, raising the question, how much longer can we focus on his “potential” and wait for it to be realized?
I think this deal would be a no-brainer for the Pistons. Ford’s reasoning for why Detroit wouldn’t do it doesn’t make much sense. If Amar’e leaves in 2010, the Pistons would have the cap room to go after somebody else. This deal basically give Detroit two chances to find the right player in 2010.
His concerns about the Suns doing it, on the other hand, seem vailid. I think they could get more from other teams.
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