NBA Trade Deadline 2012: The One Trade the New York Knicks Must Make

KNICKS TRADE: Amar'e Stoudemire

CELTICS TRADE: Kevin Garnett, Clippers & Celtics 2012 No. 1 Picks

The New York Knicks may have been struck by Jeremy Lin and "Linsanity," and their fans may have championship rings dancing in their heads when they fall asleep at night, but as the Celtics showed on Sunday, the Knicks also still have quite a ways to go before they are serious championship contenders.

The Knicks do have a chance to become a great team, thanks in large part to Jeremy "Super Lintendo" Lin, but a bit of tinkering could do wonders for the Big Apple's finest team.

Amar'e Stoudemire is a fantastic basketball player, especially on the offensive end. He is also an aging, oft-injured star who makes an enormous amount of money.

With the Knicks needing to sign Jeremy Lin and Landry Fields to new and more expensive contracts next season—thanks to their stellar play—reducing the amount of salary dedicated to the power forward position may be a wise thing to do.

It could also be said the the Knicks could indeed be better off with a different power forward, perhaps one who is a bit more of a true "stretch 4" or even one who is a bit more of a hard-nosed banger and rebounder. If the Knicks were to trade Stoudemire for Kevin Garnett's expiring contract, they could replace him next season with a young and talented stretch 4 like Michael Beasley, or a hard-nosed rebounder such as Kris Humphries.

Or both, depending on how much interest they each generate in free agency.

As for the Celtics, they may decide that now is the time to get as much as they can for the expiring contracts of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. Amar'e Stoudemire would be quite a return on their initial investment, to put it plainly.

While giving up both of their first-round picks may hurt a bit, neither pick should be anywhere near the lottery and Stoudemire is much more of a sure thing than any rookie.