I disagree. Memphis has a great young nucleus of starters now, it'd be in their interest to let them play. Conley and Mayo at the guards, Gay, Gasol, and Thabeet up front.
Seems like too much to give and particularly unlikely considering Memphis' situation. That trade does make them a very formidable team but at the same time the team seems very concerned with its financial situation so I don't know if they want to add Amare and have to pay him a max contract. Keep in mind that they're extremely high on Thabeet and probably value him noticeably more than most would. Not sure what they think of Gay as he regressed a little bit statistically in every area last season (probably due to the addition of Mayo). Gay is still only 22 though. Then there's always the quintessential Amare concerns about attitude, injury issues, contract issues, etc. Sounds like Memphis declined it. Also keep in mind that everyone in the league knows that Kerr was ready to move Amare for Biedrins, Wright, Belinelli/Azubuike, and the 7. We can surmise that GS' offer was the best available and then they even backed out when Curry became available. Kerr seems to have lost a ton of leverage now that most assume that the Suns' owner has seemingly demanded that Amare go (plus they don't wanna let him walk after this season and get nothing). Why offer some of your top pieces for a sketchy, potentially unhealthy, potentially one-year-rental Amare when you could try to wait it out and offer low ball offers knowing that Kerr has to move him?
Any team that is trying to deal for Amare right now isn't going to be willing to give up too much, since he becomes a FA after this season. Amare probably will not resign with the team if they are teams like Memphis which have no market and are always on the losing end. So it's pointless to give up key pieces of your team unless it makes your team significantly better (playoff bound), since it'll just be a one year rental. Teams with bigger markets like Chicago and NY might be able to pull this off AND retain his services after his contract is over.
Memphis should do this simply because amare would fit into their system! Gasol will be the C Amare needs alongisde him... Conley - Mayo - SF - Amare - Gasol would be a better core.
No. If Amare to GS happens, he will sign an extension. This deal was all about done before GS's double cross, so his agent HAD to have talked about it. Nor would GS do it if weren't. So, he's open to doing it with GS or maybe anywhere as long as he gets what he wants. Hell, he'd probably even sign if the Suns offered an extension despite this whole mess that's gone on. They have leverage because they know that he would and don't have to do anything right now and decide nothing's better out there than what they have. Plus, they won't do a deal that doesn't include Randolph (who they wanted originally) or who they settled on, the #7 pick Curry - who now because he fell, Nellie's apparently, furiously masturbating at the thought of a combo with Amare. As for this Memphis deal, I don't think it would have been Thabeet, the Suns would have asked for them take at 2. But I'm not surprised they tried this again. They wanted Gay/pick at the deadline. I'm also not surprised Memphis turned it down either. They rather continue to have lotto pick after lotto pick and keep a clear cap for no one.
