http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports....emire-didnt-work-now-they-have-to-fit-him-in/ The Knicks are good. Top of the Eastern Conference, best offense in the land, getting fantastic play from Carmelo Anthony, steady point guard play from Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd, solid defense thanks to Tyson Chandler. And now they have to work in Amare Stoudemire. And everyone is a little usure what happens next. Stoudemire is working out and could be back as soon as next week, maybe the Christmas Day nationally televised game against the Lakers (which is also likely when Steve Nash makes his return to the Lakers). Nobody knows how this is going to go, but if you believe the Knicks think this could work you should read these couple paragraphs from Howard Beck at the New York Times. This past summer, the Knicks offered Stoudemire to nearly every team in the league — “available for free,” as one rival executive put it. But they found no takers because of his diminished production, his health and his contract, which has three years and $65 million remaining (counting this season) and which is uninsured against a career-ending knee injury. In February, the Knicks wanted to send Stoudemire to Toronto in a deal for Andrea Bargnani, a person briefed on the discussion said. But the proposal was vetoed by James L. Dolan, the Garden chairman, before it ever reached the Raptors (who would not have made the deal anyway, team officials there said). Before that, the Knicks tried to package Stoudemire and Chandler in a bid to land Dwight Howard. From the day Mike Woodson took over as Knicks coach it was clear what direction he was taking the team — this is Carmelo’s team. He is the sun, everyone else is a planet in his orbit. To Anthony’s credit, he has stepped up his game to fill that role — he is more efficient on offense, he is getting his buckets in the flow of the offense (most of the time), he is defending, he is being a real leader, he is looking like an MVP player. Stoudemire is the guy whose orbit could be hard to fit into the solar system — his skills are redundant with Anthony at the four, and if Anthony defers to him and plays more as a three way away from the basket he goes away from what has worked in New York this season. The Knicks front office knew it, they tried to solve the problem by trading Stoudemire, but with that failing Woodson will bring Stoudemire off the bench and try to make it work somehow. We could end up with a situation where Stoudemire and Anthony are rarely on the court together. But if they can find a way to make it work — if Stoudemire, Anthony and Tyson Chandler can all be on the floor together and the Knicks keep their offensive spacing and make good on the threat of all that talent — then the Heat should be worried. At the quarter mark of the NBA season Miami and New York are the clear best teams in the East, but if Woodson can get this to work this could be the Knicks year. But based on their actions this summer, doesn’t sound like the Knicks are at all confident that can happen. And as they can’t trade him. It’s going to get interesting in New York. *Lock if posted
I've been promoting a Bargnani-Amare deal from day one. Awesome to see that not everything I think of is complete garbage.
I've been saying Pau for Amare straight up would make too much sense to happen. You get a PnR partner for Nash, reunite them in LA. Upgrade Diaw -> Dwight and Joe Johnson -> Kobe, downgrade Marion -> Artest, but the other 2 upgrades make it worthwhile. (Nash and Amare are obvious downgrades of themselves as they are older, but I don't think it's too significant). You then can use Pau at the block and keep Chandler there for PnRs in NY. Pau will flourish and Amare will be back with Nash, which is his best chance to flourish. I'm just glad LA and Knicks won't do it because it makes too much sense. I hate both teams, so I don't want them both to get help.
I don't think Pau would work well in New York. They'd need a floor spacing big man. They're going to use Anthony as their post guy. They'll be looking for somebody like Ryan Anderson, etc.
I'm an amare fan. I wouldn't mind seeing him get a career rejuvenation in LA. Aside from STAT, the Knicks would probably have to send someone else. The lakers are pining for a decent bench
Injury prone, malcontent PF on two bum knees, owed $45M over the next two years...I'm sure GM's are just lining up for Amare.
Forever answering the question, "Is there an NBA team dumb enough to trade for Amare Stoudemire?" The answer is apparently no, not even the Raptors are that dumb. The Knicks may have to wait until he's on an expiring deal at the very least...in 2014.
Too much money for the Lakers, less health, they screw up their 2014 free agency plans and it's still not a good fit (they already have two good PnR bigs; what they want is a Marion type with ability to run, knock down 3s and defend). Awesome for the Knicks, though. A much better fit on that roster. You could start Melo/Pau/Tyson, but you'd mostly play two of them at a time.
I don't think it would be bad for the Lakers. (the monetary investment, you'd be right would be bad, the extra year of contract, but that is about it.) Dwight already said he doesn't wanna run PnR he wants to be back to the basket type player. So Amare can take that role easy. A player like Marion would be a loss but mostly for his defense, but in return you get Dwight's defense. The way you can equalize the trade is add someone like Steve Novak, who the Lakers should be coveting in a trade like this. Novak starts over Artest and you have yourself a weapon on a team that has a bunch of stars who demand double teams. He's a poor man's Ryan Anderson, but it doesn't matter he'd kill it in that role.
