Amare Stoudemire a Rocket? The Rockets will try but come up short
Yahoo basketball columnist Adrian Wojnarowski had a very interesting piece come out on Thursday where he talked about the Suns willingness to listen to offers for Amare Stoudemire.
A source close to the Rockets front office told me that the Rockets have explored trading for Stoudemire but that nothing is imminent. It is believed that the Rockets are going to gussy up their trade offer and see if they can get something done. I spoke with one NBA insider who told me not to get my hopes up.
Before we get to why the Rockets probably can't land Stoudemire, let's look at why the Suns are considering dealing him.
According to my insider, the Suns aren't exactly thrilled with the fact that Stoudemire wanted Mike D'Antoni fired last year, but pines for him now that he realizes D'Antoni was a perfect fit for his game.
The Suns are also said to be concerned with how Stoudemire's knee is going to hold up over the long term thanks to his micro-fracture surgery. Do you think they are really all that crazy about giving an extension to a player who is always unhappy with his head coach and who has had microfracture surgery in the recent past?
The final, but very important, reason that Phoenix will look to move Stoudemire is the fact that they are having serious financial issues. The rough economy has hit many professional sports owners, but Suns owner Robert Sarver has been hit particularly hard. The Suns will be looking for an expiring contract or two with any deal they consider.
My insider simply doesn't believe that the Rockets will be able to offer enough to keep pace with what other NBA teams will offer for Stoudemire. While the Rockets could look to move Ron Artest and potentially Luis Scola or Carl Landry as part of the trade, there will be other teams in the league who will be able to offer a first round pick (which the Rockets can't do if they make the playoffs) and a better young player to build around than Scola or Landry. While Artest could help the Suns this year, it is unlikely that they would consider extending him after this year.
The Rockets may very well take their best shot in the Amare Stoudemire trade talks - after all, Daryl Morey and Les Alexander aren't afraid to take chance. However, when it is all said and done, they probably won't be able to match what a team with better young talent could offer.
Posted by Lance Zierlein at February 5, 2009 10:18 PM作者: sylk 時間: 2009-2-6 09:55 PM
