The favorite pastime of every NBA fan is pulling trades out of thin air, and then attempting to make a case for said trade. With some prodding by fellow bloggers, I've begun to read everybody's favorite blogger-cum-columnist, Bill Simmons, and this week, he made a bizarre trade proposal Monday - he surmised the Suns should deal Amare, Marcus Banks, the Suns pick from Atlanta (4ish) to the Wolves for Kevin Garnett and the their first pick (7th-ish). Clearly, this was a knee-jerk reaction to three strong games from Duncan in which Stoudemire struggled to stop him. One problem: why would you deal Amare, when he's better than, and makes less money than teammate Shawn Marion? That's who the Suns will look to deal - not their first-team All-NBA 25-year-old. Simmons seems to have gotten the rumor here, and tried to run with it. It doesn't seem to make much sense.
Nate Jones here at the Fanhouse had a far more sensible post earlier this season - the Suns should ship their pick from the Hawks and Marion to whomever has the No. 2 pick in the draft. But the key is that the Suns are definitely looking to unload Marion - not Stoudemire - this offseason to skirt the luxury tax. It should be pointed out that all deals hinge upon the May 22 draft lottery, and keep in mind that the first four picks are absolute studs: Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Al Horford, and Corey Brewer.
Because Brewer was on a loaded Florida team, we never got to see what he's fully capable of. Could he be nearly as good of a wing as Durant? Could Horford develop into a Karl Malone or Amare type of player? Either way, the Suns - assuming the Hawks don't finish in the top three of the lottery - will have many, many options.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-15-2007 @ 3:22PM
G said...
One of Simmons' most important points in that piece, comparing Stoudamire and Garnett, is that Amare is not a very good defender. Marion, on the other hand, according to D'Antoni's comments last night at the least, is a very, very good defender (and should have been DPOY according to some).
When you say Amare is better than Shawn, are you just talking about the offensive end, or both? If so, do you really think Marion's that much worse than Stoudamire on the offensive end?
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5-15-2007 @ 3:22PM
G said...
One of Simmons' points in that piece is that Amare is not a very good defender. It would be difficult to say the same thing about Marion, especially given D'Antoni's comments last night.
You say that Amare is better than Marion - is that just on the offensive end, or are you taking both ends into account?
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5-15-2007 @ 5:33PM
G said...
Stupid AOL server.
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5-16-2007 @ 9:40AM
brenbren said...
I think the more appropriate question regard Simmons' trade proposal is whether or not Garnett could defend Duncan better than Stoudemire.
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5-16-2007 @ 7:02PM
Moosey said...
Way off base on all accounts. As already mentioned, Amare can't defend Tim Duncan. AND Minnesota never trades KG for Marion as part of any deal (due to the salary for SM). But then you go on to discuss the draft and say that Al Horford and Corey Brewer are desirable for the Suns if they acquire the #4 pick.
The Suns do not want Horford. They are committed to the up-tempo game. They want Joakim Noah but won't need to move up to get him. And Corey Brewer may be a fine pro, but nobody is taking him in the top 4. Look back at this article in one month.
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5-16-2007 @ 11:04PM
James said...
Everyone (including, I'm sure Simmons) knows it would be better for the Suns to trade Marion, but c'mon. There's no way the T-Wolves (even the T'Wolves) would trade KG for Marion. Marion isn't the kind of player the T-Wolves could convince their fanbase to accept as 'building for the future'. How would you feel as the T-Wolves's if you traded a dominant PF for an above-average SF whose on the verge of hitting thirty?
I've been saying the Suns should try to trade Amare for KG for the past 2 seasons. KG, right now, is better than Amare. He can score in the post, create his own shot, shoot from the perimeter, get respect from the officials for his defense, and he's one of the most incredibly competitive guys in the L. Amare, on the other hand, _might_ one day become all those things.
The Suns have 1-2 more years at a highly competitive level before the window on Nash playing this well and Marion not getting cranky expires. If the Suns have KG instead of Amare they get better, RIGHT NOW.
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5-27-2007 @ 3:57AM
Chris said...
Stupid Trade rumor - definately dumb. NO WAY IN KINGMAN DURING AUGUST would PHX trade Amare....I dont think that Marion should go either. Its not Shawns fault Marion doesnt run a single play for him all season? He gets his points all on clean up duty...
Why would the Suns trade a future fixture on the all-star team and a potential MVP candidate for an aging PF? NO WAY!
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5-27-2007 @ 11:19PM
Chris said...
Stupid Trade rumor - definately dumb. NO WAY IN KINGMAN DURING AUGUST would PHX trade Amare....I dont think that Marion should go either. Its not Shawns fault Marion doesnt run a single play for him all season? He gets his points all on clean up duty...
Why would the Suns trade a future fixture on the all-star team and a potential MVP candidate for an aging PF? NO WAY!
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6-27-2007 @ 9:00PM
mike said...
wow..amare is a STUD why in the hell would the suns even consider trading him away. If they could get kg for marion that would be ok but then they get a little bit slower and not as much run n gun...it would be the twin towers down low.......shawn marion is the most underrated player in the nba today.
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