This is a horribly uneducatedly made thread. It's down to Chicago and Cleveland for the most part, with dialog going on with Houston as well. Steve Kerr as nixed the Cavs package and seems set on the Bulls package, but Sarver is keeping a dialog open with the Cavs, but I would assume that that could be about Shaq and not Amare. Houston can make an intriguing offer, but they're at the disadvantage of being a same conference team.
Not really. This isn't baseball, where in-division trading is tabooed. In baseball, you play about 1/8 of your schedule against any one team in your division. In the NBA, you play about 1/24 of your schedule against any one team in your division.
I think it would work, because Amare would be locked in to at least second banana behind Durant. If he goes to Cleveland, he has to compete (and it probably will end up being a competition) with LeBron, Mo, and Z for his baskets. If the Thunder didn't/couldn't re-sign him though, its hardly that big of a catastrophe, unlike with Memphis or another needy team. They still have draft picks to play with to draft another big guy (and they have D.J. White, FWIW), and the only real piece they gave up in this was Green. Hell, you might even get in on Bosh if Amare decides to bolt.
I don't know how you can call it uneducated. Majority of the time teams rumored to be dealing never pan out, these blockbuster trades usually come out of nowhere and the end result is unexpected. When a player like Amare is made available every team is going to pitch a deal.
And reports are that Cleveland is hesitant to ruin their chemistry. Where have you read that Kerr nixed their package?
It's not about the regular season. It' about having to go through them in the playoffs. That's why if Phoenix does that Cleveland trade (Hickson, Wally World, an a first), they're a piece of shit. I don't think anyone could go through Amare/Lebron for the next 8-10 years. Gasol trade? Memphis got Marc Gasol in addition to their capspace. This trade? That's just handing Cleveland a decades worth of championships. Frank Isola of the NY media said on Thursday I believe, that he has learned that an Amare trade is done and he believes it is to Miami or Chicago. (Cross out Miami now). And Brian Hanley said on the score in the morning that he predicts Stoudemire to Chicago, O'neal to Miami. A few hours later, JO was traded to Miami. He later said that Pat Riley thinks Stoudemire will be a Bull. Someone (I think Ric Bucher maybe?) said that Amare will be traded, and that it will probably be the only big deal left before the deadline. Which is refuted by the Chicago Media, who had Shuster say that the Bulls could make two, three, maybe four trades to completely revamp the team, trying to get two bigs in (Amare/Chandler? Amare/Kaman? Amare/Okafor?). So that doesn't quite fit. Hopefully this doesn't turn out like the Kobe crap, where Amare ends up staying in Phoenix. I think given the situation Phoenix, the bridge has been burned too much. But him staying in Phoenix is better than him going to Cleveland for their crap.
Right, because if that trade happened, Phoenix and Cleveland will be annual Finals opponents. What is so much better about the Bulls package than the Cavs? If I'm Phoenix, if it comes to Wally/Hickson/pick/someone else, or Gooden/Noah/Thomas/someone else, I'm taking Cleveland's deal every single time.
Ric Bucher has absolutely no credibility left. Like Shape said, he bet his life that Kobe would be traded. Thanks for providing the link about the Cavs offer being nixed, Russian dude.
Phoenix/Cleveland wouldn't be annual finals opponents, but they would have some trouble getting back there, because every other team in the league not named Cleveland would hate them. The Bulls package is Gooden, Thomas, Simmons, and Sefolosha and a pick. For starters, Tyrus Thomas vs. JJ Hickson. Hickson will never amount to much in his NBA career. Thomas currently has his season averages up to 9.7 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.8 BPG 1.1 SPG after a bad start to the season. He's been averaging 17.8 PPG, 10.6 RPG 2.0 BPG 1.4 SPG in February, and 11.8 PPG 6.7 RPG and 2.0 BPG 1.3 SPG. He's only 22 and he's starting to get it, you can sell that player as potential. Hickson? Not so much. Then if you lop Sefolosha off the Bulls deal, the Bulls deal saves the Suns more money this year than the proposed Cleveland deal does. And the Bulls draft pick will be higher than the Cavs.
lol Nice, a much smaller expiring contract, an overrated forward, a piece of shit, an average small forward, and a pick. HAHAHAHA. Hickson's in his rookie fucking season, and the reason he's not getting the oppurtunities is a) the Cavs have three other proven bigs that they need to play, and they be sacrificing wins for development when their in a race for first, and b) Hickson is a raw player, in his rookie year. Who are you to say if Hickson's going to 'get it' halfway through his rookie season sitting behind Ben Wallace, Z, and Varejao? Pure homerism on your part. Wow, an average player's rookie contract expires next year. Sweet. The fact that this actually matters shows just how much Phoenix is getting screwed in the rest of your trade.
You are the one who is having difficulty understanding this trade, as evidenced by you knocking the smaller expiring contract. All the smaller expiring contract means is less money that Phoenix has to take back.
They can just cut Sefolosha out of the deal first of all. Just Gooden, Thomas, and Simmons works. Thomas is on a rookie deal and is productive, and would be an expiring contract next year. They could easily trade him for a trade exception somewhere, or to a team with a little capspace this summer if need be. It's not like the Bulls are leaving Phoenix with some massive, untradeable contract.
They're leaving them with an okay forward, an average expiring deal, and piece of shit? How do expect to get Amare out of that? Talk to the Clippers, maybe they'll be kind enough to give you Marcus Camby for a shitty package like that.
