Phoenix Suns Need To Trade Amare Stoudemire Now Or Keep Him Later

To many, the decision of whether or not to keep Amare Stoudemire in a Phoenix Suns uniform is about him.

Is he healthy enough? Is his attitude finally adjusted right? Does he play sufficient defense?

Before you quickly respond "I think so," "we'll see," or "heck no!" remember for a second that one question should supersede them all:

Can Amare Stoudemire, as the main cog of the Phoenix Suns, lead them to a championship?

You hesitate, don't you? The capability is there, but if it hasn't surfaced by age 27, will it ever? Or will he remain the guy who's so close to being truly elite but never quite gets there, a la Deron Williams, Mike Bibby, Carlos Boozer, and Yao Ming?

All-Star caliber players all (Bibby never made the team in his prime thanks to being behind Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, and Gary Payton on the depth charts), but no one could comfortably say they belong in the driver's seat of a championship team (except Jeff Van Gundy, whose man-crush on Yao Ming is rivaled only by Mark Jackson's equally expressed man-crush on Kobe Bryant).

Back to the question at hand. Should Stoudemire stay or should he go? The Suns need to decide now, because if they say "go," he needs to be traded now while they can get something in return, or risk losing him for nothing come summer time.

Scenario One: They Trade Him

The question is, who would want him? There are only two possible scenarios/teams that would: 1) a team that, with Stoudemire, suddenly becomes championship contenders or 2) a team that's confident it can re-sign him, assuming he opts out this summer.

Group one? The Atlanta Hawks would seem a viable option. Remember, a trade almost materialized back in the summer of '07. The Hawks are better now, and yes, they can compete with the likes of Boston (hell, they have Boston's number like Golden State had Dallas' a couple of years back), Orlando, and Cleveland.

But there's no way they get through them in the playoffs. They're guaranteed to play at least two of those teams in the postseason, assuming they advance to the conference finals.

With the group they've got now, they don't have a shot. With Stoudemire, they'd be considered more than the entertaining, tantalizing fourth team in the East. Unfortunately, they probably wouldn't part with Al Horford, Josh Smith, or Joe Johnson, one of whom the Suns would absolutely want back.

Portland's another option, but again, they won't give up Brandon Roy or Lamarcus Aldridge. Here is an option though: make a three-way trade with Portland and Washington (who is absolutely going to clean house).

Phoenix gets: Jerryd Bayless (Portland), Brendan Haywood (Washington) and Antawn Jamison (Washington), and (if they can swing it) a Washington number one pick

Portland gets: Amare Stoudemire (Phoenix) and Randy Foye (Washington)

Washington gets: Joel Pryzbilla (Portland), Andre Miller (Portland) and Leandro Barbosa (Phoenix).

Phoenix would get a young bench scorer who goes largely unused, a big man and a scorer to compensate for losing Stoudemire. Portland gets the big fish in Stoudemire and a bench guard to make up for losing Miller (who doesn't fit) and Bayless (who's stuck on the bench). Washington gets good character and decent talent to appease the fans both competitively and communally.

Scenario Two: They Keep Him

Fair enough. The Suns ride the horse they drafted in '02. They'd still need to do something to bolster the roster if they hope to advance far in the playoffs. As mentioned previously, Barbosa and Jason Richardson are the only two tradeable assets they have due to their talent and contracts.

With the trade deadline looming, the Suns need to look inside themselves and see what they really believe Amare Stoudemire means to them. If they don't, the ball is in his hands, and not theirs.

Not comforting when Stoudemire averages 2.7 turnovers a game.