Marc Stein seems to think Suns seriously evaluating Iguodala

ESPN.com Marc Stein is pointing out that although neither side thinks that anything is imminent - a potential trade could come down to the wire - the Suns are taking a serious interest and thinking long and hard about a potential trade with Philadelphia. He cited that Dave Griffin just went down to New Orleans the other night to take in a Sixers vs Hornets game[1].

So what happened in that game? It was a wild, fast-paced game where the two Philadelphia prospects were able to put up these numbers in the up-tempo style that Phoenix loves:

Andre Iguodala: 14pts 9rebs 7assists
Samuel Dalembert: 16rebs 3blocks 7pts

All this is right now is likely one of several options in front of management including keeping extending Amare's contract at the opposite end of the spectrum. I will say that I am actually surprised that this trade rumor has actually shown itself to have some substance. When I heard it being thrown out there last week I didn't think much of it because it was the first time I'd heard of anything other than a role player or future pick being thrown around in an Amare trade rumor.

No doubt a lot of teams are banking on Amare reaching free agency and doing everything possible to de-value Stoudemire and make garbage offers so they don't have to give anything up for him. Is one franchise in Philly finally calling the bluff of the rest of the teams in the NBA and offering near equal value for the all-star Power Forward?

Who knows, maybe Dave Griffin going down to New Orleans is more for show and to pressure the rest of the league into making their best offer, but if it's really what it appears to be then it is certainly the most interesting of the trades that have been suggested in the last year and a half.

Could the Frye-Iguodala dynamic duo actually be re-formed and would it be anywhere near as effective as it was in college? These two played well together at UofA and made the all-Pac-10 team one year and both made the Pac-10 freshman team. It's a mildly interesting side story that on its own is not worth pulling the trade trigger.

There was an article that appeared on hoopsvibe.com today where Oly Sandor is bloggin about the potential that acquiring Iguodala might fill a bit of a void left when Shawn Marion was traded. He believes that Iguodala's speed, strength and athleticism at the wing position would be just what the doctor ordered and basically "The Matrix Reloaded".

There are a lot of opinions flying around about the rumored Stoudemire trades but the undeniable fact is that this trade is one that spells out what direction the Suns would embark on. Trading for this player would be a serious committment with the contract he's carrying. Although there has been hope that a player like Dragic or Stoudemire could carry the torch after Steve Nash, the reality is these players don't consistenly make their teammates better; they are very good at what they do and play their role very well. Iguodala does have potential to lead a franchise . . . potential to do so.

The two seasons previous to this year Iguodala played in the backcourt with one of the all-time assist leading Point Guards in Andre Miller and averaged solid numbers with someone like him running the offense (a little below 20ppg, about 5assists-p/game, 2.6 TOs p/game, and about 5.5 rebounds p/game). This year with Miller's departure and taking on a role as their primary ball-handler there is interstingly a slight drop in his scoring while simultaneously a rise in his assists and yet his turnovers have not increased. It is intersting to see that he is basically as effective a scorer with or without a true playmaking PG in the backcourt with him, and without one he has shown some noticeable growth in his ability to make others on his team better.

Unrelated to playmaking he is also on a steady growth pattern the last few season where his fouls per game is dropping and his rebounds per game and free throw shooting are rising.

I know there are some out there that may see the departure of the playmaking PG Andre Miller, the assumption of playmaking duties by Iguodala and the losing record the Sixers have as evidence that he's not a franchise playmaker, but I don't think that's worth resting an argument on.

Kobe took a long time to mature to the point where he could carry his team and make his teammates better (in the last 3 seasons maybe?). D-Wade has been up-and-down and has yet to show he can carry a team by himself; he's been a part of a 15 win season a couple seasons ago and won a title with an aging Shaq a couple before that. Lebron also took several years to develop to the point that he could carry his team and make it better than it is. Even Carmelo Anthony couldn't rise through the playoffs without the leadership of Chauncey Billups. A franchise playmaker doesn't have to take their team to great heights in their first year at the helm for them to be validated.

If Iguodala was brought in to Phoenix it would not replace Amare Stoudemire. In fact there would be some of the same problems he saw in Philadelphia where there would be no big man who could draw double-teams, finish in traffic and help the team stay balanced in their scoring. That's been part of the struggle Philadelphia has had over the years (something signing Elton Brand did not help with), but another reason for Philadelphia's struggle would not exist here in Phoenix: 3pt shooting.

Philadelphia has been a bad 3pt shooting team the last few years (something signing Jason Kapono this summer did not help with) and the departure of Andre Miller didn't help much in that area either. In Phoenix though Iguodala would find some solid 3pt shooters that would change the dynamic of his playmaking in Frye, Dudley, Dragic, Nash and others. In fact it is a bit unusual that he's averaging the number of assists he is with no 3pt shooters and no real scoring big men in Philly.

Regardless of your feelings on how well Amare is playing right now, how crucial he is to this teams' success and future, there are factors affecting the ability to keep Amare around and the very real possibility that raising his contract immediately to the max will financially handcuff this franchise. I don't think anyone wants to see Stoudemire go when he's playing as well as he's playing, and frankly I think the Suns have a greater chance to make and succeed in the playoffs this season with Stoudemire here rather than Iguodala. It's the future of the Phoenix Suns and the building around Iguodala vs building around Stoudemire that has me leaning toward this trade (if it's a trade involving the players whose names are involved in the rumor).

I guess it just seems to me that Iggy's game will blossom over the next few years regardless of where he's playing, but specifically I think his 3pt shooting and playmaking has the potential to develop faster here than most places because of the shooters and shooting coaches surrounding him and the chance to pair up in the backcourt with a top playmaker who's having the best season of his career.

So it's with a tempered interest that I wonder about this player becoming a Phoenix Sun. For awhile now I've been hoping the Suns could one day acquire a Shooting Guard who can create for others but they are just so rare and the chances at getting near an Evan Turner are extremely slim. Yet here is a blossoming young playmaking Shooting Guard in his first year running his team being thrown around in trade talk for a player we likely can't hang on to. I'm very impressed with how Amare is playing lately and the focus he's beginning to show on defense and with rebounding, but it would be very hard for me to feel bad about this trade.

So it is with a shameless link to a well-mixed youtube collection of Iguodala highlights from last year that I end the sales pitch for what I think will be one of the better franchise playmaking superstars in the next phase of the NBA. [here]

If this trade were to happen, then it would be Dalembert at PF and Lopez at center, Hill gets moved back to the bench where he stuggles, Igoudula at SG and Richardson at SF. I don't like that line up because we would have no big man that can score but if Igoudala and Richardson can lead the tean with the help of nash I am all for it. Ofcourse with Lopez and Dalembert we automatically are a top 10 defensive team.

IMO we shouldn't trade Amare right now as he is playing well and is maturing enough to deserve that max contract.

This trade idea is not necessarily a bad one but i still prefer that we keep stat for now and see if we need to revisit this in the off-season. Amare is showing that he can improve defensively and that he is showing no ill effects from his past injuries. He deserves better than what sarver and kerr are offering him. Having said that, he still hasn't quite proven that he can have the kind of impact that a lebron james, dwayne wade and kobe bryant can bring every game for a full season. He is very close to deserving a max contract and has really stepped up and proved that he can be a dominant 20 and 10 guy and carry us during a win streak. I still think that in order for him to really earn that max-extension he'll have to prove that he can keep doing it throughout the remainder of the season and then exceed that during the playoffs. regardless of what the sixers offer us we need to remember that amare has been quite happy to play for the suns and hasn't demanded a trade since he's been here. It truly says something that he wants to remain a sun and expects this team to be a winner in the future. I can't blame him for wanting a max-contract considering the state of the collective bargaining agreement and how it's change will affect the players later on. If he maintains this style of play for the rest of the season(assuming he's not traded by the all-star break) he'll deserve a max-contract and shouldn't have to deal with being low-balled by sarver. I do like the idea of aquiring iguodala and dalembert to improve our overall defense but it's still hard for me to see us improving and still making the playoffs this season without amare. i really wanted us to resign amare and try to move j. rich if someone has to be moved and then try and sign an"impact player " in free-agency. Another route we could go is to keep an eye on mississippi's terrico white whom is often compared to iguodala, and then do what we can to aquire him in this year's draft or next year's . That way we get to keep amare and add the potential "next andre iguodala" and our big three would end up being white,clark, and stoudamire. I'd much rather gamble on that scenario than give in to the sixers trade demands, right now we have a real good chance to make the playoffs and they don't, so they need amare much more than we need iguodala this season. I also still like a possible deal with the nets as long as they include their 2011 first rounder(unprotected) which we could use to get hassan whiteside or perry jones, our front office still has eleven days to make the most important decision of the season and they shouldn't rush into anything yet.

If we trade amare for iguodala and dalembert then we have no true power forward. Sure we will have Dalembert and lopez, but frye isnt that big a of an inside presence. We need to keep amare.

Might be a bit unfair to label Grant Hill a 'suspect' defender; he's been pretty solid and guarded Dirk like a defensive champ a few games ago. But no doubt defense and rebounding would seriously improve in a trade like this.

There's really no immediate replacement for the frontcourt scoring Stoudemire brings this team each night either. Lou isn't going to be that kind of scorer, but there's a slight chance that Frye could develop his face-up game or that Lopez could become a solid post-up scorer. Of the four of them I think Earl Clark might be the most likely to develop a solid inside game (facing up more likely that a strong post-up game). But any and all of that is probably a season or three away from now; no immediate replacement for what Stoudemire brings.

It would be a lot of money on that bench unit, but it's also 26 million in salary off the books completely next summer, and the patient franchises like San Antonio would see that as two huge bartering pieces for next year's trade deadline: 26 million in expiring contracts a couple months before the new CBA is very valuable in attractive a draft pick or a young role player (that's how the Spurs got Richard Jefferson).

I just don't see the Suns as being capable of competing with the offers Stoudemire could get from New Jersey, Miami or Houston without offering him the max. He's had four great games and it would be awesome if he's indeed a changed man and ready to be a consistent rebounder and focused defender, but there's also a very good chance he's motivated by that contract and that this is indeed just four good games in a row.

There's reasonable doubt either way.

I think Lopez has shown flashes of being a good low-post presence. Maybe he's not a go-to guy, but he cleans up the boards and has a ton of put backs. I think the same goes for Dalembert and Lou. They would have a field day on the boards. Let's not forget that the Suns would then have three wing players (JRich, Iguodala, and Hill) who could still get into the lane as well.
Yeah, I was a little uneasy about calling Hill a suspect defender. I do think we have better defensive options at the 3 (Dudley and Clark), but Hill is capable and that bench would be a pretty good defensive squad.

That works financially. I think that whether you go Amare and LB (23mil) for Iggy and Dalembert (23mil) or Amare, J-Rich and Jaron Collins (30mil) for Iggy, Dalembert and Kapono (30mil) it's a fairly even financial swap.

I think the main thing that any trade for a good player depends on is whether or not Amare wants to be there. I don't know if that translates to a mid-season sign-and-trade or not, but the biggest drawback for the 76ers if we trade Amare and J-Rich without any immediate contract extension is Amare could potentially leave their team this summer and J-Rich could leave next summer. If Amare wants to play for the 76ers and gives assurances that satisfy Philly (or if a sign-and-trade is pulled off successfully), then it may not matter as much what J-Rich or Barbosa want to do next summer.

The plus for Phoenix if they don't trade Barbosa is they become a better 3pt shooting team both by keeping him and by gaining one of the league's best 3pt shooters in Jason Kapono (who will likely have a career year with Steve Nash).

The plus for Phoenix if they keep Jason Richardson is more in what will happen to the Phoenix Suns in exactly one year (by next year's trade deadline). With Dalembert and Jason Richardson's contracts expiring next summer and pulling 26 million off the books, Phoenix will be in a great position.

If they just let Richardson and Dalembert's contracts expire then the Suns may be in the driver's seat for signing a free agent next summer (names like Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Caron Butler, Richard Jefferson, Tayshaun Prince, Kirilenko, Kenyon Martin, David West, Josh Howard, and Yao Ming).

But since next summer starts the new Collective Bargaining Agreement where player salaries may significantly change, teams with expiring contracts may get a lot of trade calls this time next year. What this could mean is a decent draft pick or two, or a good young role player.

Trade Amare and we get Iggy and Dalmebert? that doesnt match up and we may have t0 give up more players to make it work. i like Iggy but he is no All-Star and we really dont have no go to player in the post without Amare. Also with Amare wantin a max or near max contract i dont think alot of teams dont wanna give you that kind of money unless your Lebron or Dwade. also we already got Jrich and Iggy is like Jrich without the 3pt shoot. in this system with Nash you going to need some 3point shooter and i dont like this trade. u going to trade Amare better trade Nash too and start all over. we got a center in Lopez and i dont think we want to get Dalemberts contract and that is just a waste of money on him. so lets keep Amare and see what happens this summer.

i dont like the idea of him leaving either and i hope and pray that we keep amare in a suns uniform