Latest NBA Trade Rumor 2010..Amare Stoudemire or Jamison to Cleveland?

Will the big trade in the NBA this year be Tracy McGrady to New York, or will Cleveland help Lebron James by picking up Amar'e Stoudemire or Antawan Jamison? As the NBA trade deadline approaches this Thursday, rumors are swirling around the basketball world. Every year there are trade rumors in the NBA that never materialize. This year will not be any different. In this article I am going to try to attempt to sort through which trades I think are likely to happen, and which NBA trades will never materialize into anything.

Houston's Tracy McGrady to the New York Knicks for draft picks:

The Knicks and Rockets are considering a deal that would involve New York's Jordan Hill, Jared Jeffries, and either Al Harrington or Larry Hughes for McGrady and scraps.

For the Knicks it will dump some big contracts and free them up for a major signing in the offseason. The Rockets will pick up Jordan Hill, the player that the Knicks selected with their 8th pick in the 2009 NBA draft, and draft picks.

This deal makes sense for both teams. The Knicks want to be players in the Lebron James sweepstakes over the offseason. Lebron James will be pushed by incentives in his Nike contract to leave Cleveland and sign with a major city. The New Jersey Nets are one of the possible destinations for Lebron James. If the New York Knicks want to counter any big signing by the Nets, then the Knicks need to free up money. The addition of Tracy McGrady's expiring contract will give the Knicks a lot of flexibility that they currently do not have. The Knicks will get the opportunity to audition Tracy McGrady with their team for the rest of the season and see if he would be a good fit for them. If they determine that he is not, then they will free up a lot of money to pursue a very talented class of free agents.

For Houston they will get a lot of young players in return for Tracy McGrady. Houston does not have a lot of attachment to Tracy McGrady even though he is considered a superstar in the NBA. He is injured, and their team isn't going to compete for the NBA championship. If they pull off this trade, the Rockets would instantly become one of the NBA's up and coming teams. Any rebuilding process would be sped up by at least three years. Reports say that the deal is 50-50. The desperation of the Knicks to dump salary, and their history of bad deals leads me to believe that this deal will get done.

Amar'e Stoudemire Trade:

Amar'e Stoudemire is the biggest name floating around in NBA trade rumors. These rumors have Amare Stoudemire going to the Cleveland Cavs, the Philadelphia 76ers, or the Miami Heat.

The latest rumor have Amar'e Stoudemire headed to Cleveland for J.J Hickson (the 19th pick of the 2008 draft), Cleveland's 2010 first round pick, and a player like Zydrunas Ilgauskas who has an expiring contract. Phoenix would save some money and get two young players in return. J.J Hickson is a young power forward who is averaging 7.4 pts and 4.4 rebounds per game this year. Phoenix would gain him and Cleveland's first round pick that will be late in the first round. The players drafted in that range of the NBA draft usually are not impact players.

Phoenix has been floating Stoudemire around for a couple of years now, and nothing has materialized. I think that this latest round of trade rumors will be more of the same. If we want to know the value of a player like Stoudemire, then we can see what the Lakers gave up for Pau Gasol. That package included two first round picks and three role players from the Lakers to the Grizzles. The compensation that Cleveland is offering for Stoudemire is comparable to the Gasol trade. Cleveland would love to land Stoudemire so that they can give Lebron James a chance to win a championship in Cleveland. The Cavs believe that making a move for Stoudemire will entice Lebron James to resign with Cleveland.

Everything looks like it should work with this trade, but I don't think that it will happen. The Suns have been shopping Stoudemire for over a year now, and they cannot get anything done. Having Stoudemire play alongside Shaq didn't work Phoenix, so why would Amar'e Stoudemire agree to try it again? To add to the complications in this deal, the Phoenix Suns are still a playoff team. Trading Stoudemire will alienate their fan base and anger their players. I don't see him leaving Phoenix before the NBA trade deadline.