Amar'e Trade: Good Or Bad?

There have been rumors concerning the Phoenix Suns trading their star forward Amar'e Stoudemire. But he got injured around the time the rumors were swirling, and everyone sort of forgot about it.

This offseason, and maybe next season, these rumors just might come back. Should the Suns make the trade?

STAT (that's Amar'e's nickname) has been the Suns' leading scorer pretty much ever since he joined the team. It is no secret the Suns are looking to rebuild, and might even trade some of their starters this year.

Stoudemire has always played steady and his defense has improved dramatically. His eye problem might be a setback, but hopefully it will be alright. He has great endurance and stamina, which has allowed him to play an average of 34.2 minutes per game.

The run-and-gun style of the Suns offense has been a perfect fit for STAT and he has had made many spectacular plays within that style, with pretty good range and the ability to nail threes when he is open.

He seems right for the Suns, but let's shy way from this for a moment and ask ourselves another question: Who would they get for Stoudemire?

There are very few players in this league who are as good as he is and will fit into Phoenix's offensive scheme.

Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, David West, Rasheed Wallace, Gerald Wallace, Al Harington, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, etc. are all good players, but many of them lack what Stoudemire, and those that do are not on the same level in other aspects.

Don't get me wrong, these are all great forwards and some of them can play as both forward and center. In my opinion, the best replacements for Stoudemire would be: Bosh, West, Nowitzki, and Gasol.

Gasol is the most questionable, but he is an option. Al Harrington is good too, but he is worse than Stoudemire on defense.

These are all great picks, but it's hard to choose. If the Suns make the trade, they should try to get Nowitzki. Phoenix has relied a little to much on Stoudemire and all the've gotten are losses to the Spurs in the playoffs.

The Suns are my favorite team, and as a fan and an analyst, I think they should trade Stoudemire.