The first time I heard the Amar'e deal put on the table a few days ago, I immediately recoiled from it like it was a live cobra ... now ... hmm ... it's hard to say. He's a helluva talent, and he has enough range on his jumper that he could conceivably be more of a high post player than low post guy to mesh better with Greg, but if he hates Porter's system I can't envision him having a lot of fun playing for Nate. The deal that Berger has up sounds a whole lot more like a Phoenix "demand" rather than a Portland "offer" ... we'd be utterly devoid of any depth whatsoever at point guard without some secondary deal. Who knows, maybe KP is trying to wrangle a 3-way deal between us, the Suns and the Bulls (or some other team) where we get a wing and a point guard, Phoenix would get major cap relief and some prospects, and Chicago (or whomever) gets the main prize, Amar'e?
It seems to me that Phoenix really wants to trade with Detroit not Portland. A trade of Sheed for Stoudamire gives them better defense and an expiring contract. If the situation doesn't improve with Sheed, they can let him go over the summer.
Re: Greed for a lack of a better.... Look, you can criticize the personality of just about anybody who ever played the game. Michael Jordan couldn't get along with Orlando Woolridge, slapped Will Purdue around, gambled with anybody & everybody, and rode his teamates relentlessly - was HE a chemistry killer? Did he have an overwhelming desire to "be the man"? Kobe ran Shaq out of town, and before that didn't even associate with his teamates WHILE they were winning 3 titiles. (In his prime) Shaq was at times more interested in makng movies, rap CD's, and being a comedian than basketball. Until Last season Kevin Garnett has a history of playoff dissapointments, and Ray Allen and Paul Pierce were just good players that never won anything. My point? Amare doesn't have a history of being a malcontent. He's not Bonzi Freeking Wells. I think that every great player has a burning desire to win, and be the leader. You have two alpha-males in Phoenix since Shaq showed up, and they aren't playing well. Of course he's dissapointed.
Who has ever been the man on the team without wanting to be that? Amare has been first team all-NBA. He's on the cusp of being an MVP-level player. And then he sees the system changed under Porter and Shaq featured on offense... it's natural that he's wondered wtf Kerr and the coaches are doing. Ed O.
The point is this team already has Roy and Oden. Roy's already better and Oden will be next year. Hell, head-to-head Oden has dominated Amare this year.
When is the last time you heard about one of Kevin Pritchard's trades before it happend? The answer is never. Not one of the trades under Pritchard's Blazers has been leaked.
since when is amare on the cusp of being an mvp level player? with d'antoni, it could be argued that he was close, but definitely not anymore. just look at his per. he's at 20.1 this season. aldridge is at 18.9. and aldridge is a better defensive player. is it really that much of an upgrade?
I don't see any evidence there that's at all compelling that D'Antoni has made players consistently and markedly better nor that players are consistently inferior after playing under D'Antoni. Look at PER for the players you mentioned in your first post. PER is normalized for Pace, and I don't think that there's a strong correlation between D'Antoni's system and higher-than-similar-year PER numbers. Ed O.
I am talking about this: 1) Roy is a better player than Amare right now. 2) Oden will be a better player than Amare by next season. 3) Oden has gotten the better of Amare every time they've been head-to-head this season.
