NBA Trade Rumors: New York Knicks Could Trade Amare Stoudemire to Philadelphia 76ers
According to multiple reports, the New York Knicks are talking about a possible trade with the Philadelphia 76ers that would involve Amar'e Stoudemire.
Stoudemire is a six-time NBA All-Star, and he's played very well in the league after entering straight from high school in 2002. Although his defense has never been elite, Stoudemire has averaged over eight rebounds per game over his 12-year career. Stoudemire is a talented scorer most notably in the post area, and he's averaged over 20 points per game in his time in the NBA.
Unfortunately, he has regressed in recent years, mostly because of injuries. The 31-year-old Stoudemire has experienced many knee injuries lately and his playing time has reduced significantly because of it. Stoudemire has only started 21 games over his last two seasons for the Knicks. Regardless, he's still young with a lot of playing time left and can offer a team many good things on the basketball court.
Financially speaking, Stoudemire has one year remaining on his 5-year, $99.75 million contract. During this offseason, Stoudemire had the option to opt out of his contract and test free agency. It came as no surprise that he opted in and took the $23.4 million for this season.
So why would the 76ers trade for Stoudemire? Why would they trade for a player who has trouble staying on the court and has such a high cost?
A trade between these two teams involving Stoudemire most likely won't happen until February, which is when the 2015 NBA trade deadline is. If such a trade occurs at that time, the 76ers would only have to pay Stoudemire 30 percent of the $23 million he would earn next season, or roughly $7 million per NBA rules.
Of course, this is still a long way from now, but both sides have been in contact with one another. The 76ers did have the second-worst record in the entire NBA last season at 19-63. The team looked to retool in the NBA Draft when they drafted center Joel Embiid with the No. 3 overall pick this year. Stoudemire and Embiid could be a great combination -- certainly a must-watch. If the Knicks are playing great by February, they may want to keep Stoudemire instead of trading him.
It's also important to remember that both the Knicks and 76ers play in the same division, the Atlantic. If the Knicks are going to trade away a high-profile player in their own division, they have to be 100 percent sure about it.
This could be a win-win situation for everyone involved. The Knicks failed to qualify for the playoffs last season, and there is much work to be done. Fortunately for them, Carmelo Anthony returned. Knicks team president Phil Jackson is rebuilding the franchise, so Stoudemire may be a better fit elsewhere. The 76ers aren't a very good rebounding team, and forward Thaddeus Young might be traded away sooner rather than later.
Even though the Knicks would still have to pay 70 percent of Stoudemire's contract, that's still significantly less than all of it. For whatever reason, he and Anthony never were a good fit. The two players have a losing record with one another when both starting the same games, and Stoudemire probably won't fit the triangle offense that coach Derek Fisher will implement.
At this point, perhaps parting ways with Stoudemire is what the Knicks have to do.
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