The Ray Allen Trade Possibilities

By now you may have heard about the most interesting trade rumor that has circulated around the net in some time.

It began on Phoenix radio station KTAR a few days ago, and included the Suns and Bulls making a deal that would send the current Celtics starting back court(Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen) along with this years first round pick to Phoenix for Amare Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa.

While on the surface, this deal makes you scratch your head if you are a Celtics fan, but lets take a deeper look at the teams and players involved.

Starting in Phoenix, it’s no secret that Stoudemire is being shopped around prior to the draft. The Suns have had some light conversation with the Washington Wizards, and a deal that was proposed would send Caron Butler/Javale McGee and Nick Young to the Suns for Amare.

Washington did not want to give up their fifth pick in this year’s draft, as if they are able to secure Stoudemire, they can draft a new slashing scorer to replace Butler with No. 5, such as Demar DeRozan or James Harden.

While other teams like the Bulls have shown interest, the Wizards and Celtics are the front runners for Stoudemire. Boston would allow the Suns to be competitive next year, and bringing in Rondo would make Steve Nash trade bait.

If you are Boston, what would Amare do for you? Stoudemire, who plays the same position as Kevin Garnett, would ideally play on the front line alongside KG and Paul Pierce, and Boston would bring Kendrick Perkins off the bench, similar to how the Lakers brought Andrew Bynum when they started Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.

Barbosa wouldn’t make much sense for Boston, and trading Rondo away with getting no point guard back in return doesn’t seem legit. If I were a betting man, I would expect Amare to Washington is more realistic, while moving Ray Allen’s expiring contract seems to be Boston’s one move to alter their rotation drastically.

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