Thursday, February 5, 2009

Dallas Recap & Amare?

I have a confession to make. I didn’t watch the Blazer game last night. BUT, I have a good excuse, I was hooping myself. Unfortunately as I was on my way to fouling out roughly around the end of the 3rd quarter (and yes you get 6 fouls in city league), the Blazers were losing the Dallas. If you want some breakdowns of the game check out this link, which leads to more links!


Trade Talk


So you can pretty much assume that I will come through everyday with some sort of trade rumor. If you hate trade rumors I am sorry, but I love them. You know what? I am not sorry! I will not apologize for dreaming of ways to improve an already stellar team. Today’s is quite a dosey and comes to us from a Dallas newspaper. He seems to believe that the Blazer’s are going to trade Raef and Aldridge for Amare Stoudamire. Below is an excerpt, if you want to check out the whole thing, click here.

This comes from having an ear to the ground. Some reading of tea leaves. Some 2+2 = stuff. I think there's a biggie brewing in NBA trade circles. A Western Conference-race-changing biggie.


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While I don't claim to have moles inside the Suns HQ, little snippets here and there from people I listen to (should we call them "our sources" in order to make this a true Vesceyesque rumor-generator?) have me thinking that a big trade is brewing. ... or certainly, serious talks that could lead to this big trade. A blockbuster. One that involves two playoff teams and rivals in the Western Conference. One that could create a deadline domino effect in the West, just like last year. Don't be surprised if Amare gets traded by the deadline to Portland for LaMarcus Aldridge (with Raef Lafrentz included as trade filler for rules purposes).


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Anything can happen - but we have reason to think that when the dust settles the Suns' partner will be Portland, and the acquisition will be Aldridge.

While it is tempting to think of what that would do to Portland’s title hopes this season, I would have to say that I would not do the deal. While Amare is an amazing basketball talent, he has too many negatives for me. For one, he is very uninterested in playing defense, and that goes against everything Nate tries to teach (granted we suck at defense right now, but at least our guys are trying). Second, I don’t know how much I like Amare’s “me first” attitude. If he has trouble deferring to Shaq, one of the greatest center’s of all time, then how is he going to react to deferring to Oden and Roy? Is his personality too overwhelming for even Brandon Roy to conquer? I am afraid it is.


The other side of the coin is that I would see Aldridge developing similar problems in the future. He has already let it be known that he is kind of disturbed by the fact that he doesn’t get as much attention as Roy and Oden. You could say that he even gets less media coverage then Bayless. He seems to be fine with it right now, but what about in 2 years? In 5? When his contract is up, is he going to be satisfied being “one of the big three”? or will he want to go somewhere else and be “the man” just like Amare is doing right now? Those are questions that nobody knows the answers to, but interesting to think about.


Weighing both sides, I would have to lean towards not making the trade. We have a pretty darn good thing going here right now, and we are getting significantly better each year. It sometimes seems hard to be patient in the pros, but I think this is one of those times it will pay off.


What do you guys think? Would you do it? Would you rather have this deal or the Bosh deal? I would like the Bosh deal more then this, but who knows. I want to hear what you guys think!

3 comments:

  1. Dude i would take take Bosh, he's dirty and D's up....look at the olympics, everyone was really surprised...also Amare doesn't play D at all....look at them in those 2 or 3 years not beating the Spurs...no D...why did they get Shaq? No D. Who is the best play on the Suns? Amare.

    Done on my end. Bosh for sure. But seriously, I do really like Aldridge.

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  2. Kyle, what was the bosh deal? I happen to be a big fan of Amare. I think he is an exciting player and could bring a more uptempo pace to our squad which is fun, but not what we run. Aldrige is a good player and can continue to develop. That is hard to part ways with.

    Other news.......looks like the magic deal and Hedo is out of question. The magic acquired Tyrone Lue from MIL for Keith Bogans

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  3. I agree that this could be a risky trade due to the possibility of conflicting personalities. But what trade doesnt have this risk? You always question how players are going to mesh.

    As for the debate between Bosh and Amare, I would have to lean toward Amare. Both are great players and I feel would make the Blazers better. However, I would not get rid of LA and Outlaw for Bosh. I would get rid of LA and Raef for Amare. I dont think the fact that Amare does not always play great D should not be a huge factor in deciding this trade. Just because that LA does not play the best D, so its not like we are losing a whole lot. Also I feel that Amare is a better rebounder and more versitile than LA. He can play C and PF, where LA is pretty much stuck in the PF position.

    In the long run; my first choice would be to keep LA just because he is a good player and a good fit. If we had to trade LA, I think that getting Amare would be one of the best options for the Blazers.

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