MIAMI -- The Arizona Republic reported late Sunday night that the Cavaliers are one of three teams to be in talks recently with the Suns about trading for star Amare Stoudemire.
The reporter on this story is the Republic's Paul Coro, which why there is a blog going up on this topic now and it is not being regarded as common fodder. Coro has a good reputation for being credible. For example, was the first to report the Cavs and Suns had re-started trade talks for Shaquille O'Neal last June.
I had not heard the Cavs have discussed trading for Stoudemire, but league sources have said the Suns are quite worried that Stoudemire plans to leave via free agency next summer and have been looking for a commitment from him now. If they can't get it, a source told me last week, they will press ahead looking to make a deal before next month's deadline.
The Suns have already made several salary-dumping trades over the last year, the biggest was sending O'Neal to the Cavs for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic, which saved the team more than $10 million when both players were bought out (figuring in luxury tax savings).
It would be surprising that the Suns would want to do another salary dump trade with a star, but it isn't impossible. This move potentially could save team owner Robert Sarver another $10 million, and perhaps more.
The natural trade that makes sense here would be Zydrunas Ilgauskas and J.J. Hickson for Stoudemire. The Suns could also ask for draft picks, as the Cavs own their full slate of first-round picks in the future. The Cavs and Suns talked about Hickson in the O'Neal deal, but the Cavs wanted to keep him. So the Suns have a history of interest in Hickson. They also considered drafting him in 2008 but took Robin Lopez instead.
Straight up, this type of deal would save the Suns around $3.4 million off their payroll ($6.8 million including luxury tax). However, the Suns currently are a little more than $5 million over the luxury-tax line. It is possible they could then negotiate a buyout with Ilgauskas and get below the tax, which would probably enable such a trade to save them around $10 million in real money. The cash advantage could actually increase because, if the Suns got below the tax line of $69.9 million, they would be able to get their share from the fund created by the tax-paying teams. In other words, it would be worth millions more.
In addition, because of a clause in his contract, Ilgauskas has already been paid about 75 percent of his $11.5 million salary this season. He would be owed a trade kicker of around $2 million, but the Suns could save up to $3 million in the swap from money already paid to Ilgauskas that wouldn't have to come out of their coffers. All of that is subject to negotiation, of course, but the point here is this is a potential deal worth lots of money to Phoenix if they worked all these details out. But, in short, it is complicated.
Coro reports that the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves have also talked to the Suns. The Suns and Warriors nearly pulled a deal for Stoudemire last June before the draft but it fell apart. There is little doubt that both the Wolves and Warriors could put together more talent-rich offers for Stoudemire. The Cavs cannot and will not offer the same package of young players.
But with Stoudemire having the right to become a free agent this summer, it would be foolish for either team to trade for him without an agreement he'd re-sign with them. He already made it clear he didn't want to go to Golden State last summer, which was one of the sticking points to that failed trade. It is hard to believe he'd want to stay in Minnesota, which is in the middle of a large rebuilding project.
That factor reduces Stoudemire's value on the trade market and is why such a deal would make some sense for the Cavs. Stoudemire has said he wants to play for a contender, but probably would also be attracted to New York or Miami in the offseason. So the danger is the Cavs may find themselves renting him as well.
Another issue in thinking about this potential trade, however, is Stoudemire's relationship with O'Neal. The people in Phoenix say that O'Neal and Stoudemire got along just fine in the locker room, but they didn't so much on the floor. Their styles got in each other's way, and it was one of the reasons the Suns first thought about trading Stoudemire a year ago and then flirted with the idea again in the summer before trading O'Neal instead.
Stoudemire is a pick-and-roll specialist who loves going to the rim. O'Neal was often in his way. It is questionable whether pairing them together again would work on the floor or be acceptable to either player. There would have to be agreement on all sides, and that doesn't count Ilgauskas, who would have to agree to a buyout to make the trade even come together.
Of course, LeBron James is in the picture as a playmaker, but O'Neal and Stoudemire had Steve Nash, one of the greatest playmakers of this era, to help in Phoenix. So all of this could be simple posturing and due diligence from the Cavs. They'd have to be convinced the two could work together and that they would have a good chance of re-signing Stoudemire to go forward with it.
If nothing else, this rumor should create a lot of chatter, which is why fans like this time of year. If I didn't think there was some basis for it or that it wasn't possible, this blog would not have been written.
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