Should the Suns trade Shaq or Amare?

[devilalum]

I like the idea of keeping Shaq and trading Amare. It seems like the Suns can get more for Amare. If the Suns can trade Amare for some nice pieces and create a descent core then maybe they might actually attract a decent free agent next summer with the cap room Shaq will create.

 

[LV-Suns]

Keep them both and trade Nash.

 

[devilalum]

Keep them both and trade Nash.

Yeah that could have been a choice. But trading Nash is a lot trickier that trading the other two. How many teams would want one year of Nash at $13 million? The Suns could keep those 2 and let Nash walk but Nash for nothing doesn't seem like a good idea either.

 

[HooverDam]

Trade Shaq & Nash, try to get as many picks back for them as you can, build with LB, Amare and maybe JRich. Or if you can get something good for Jrich, ship him out too.

 

[Maligzar]

Trade Shaq & Nash, try to get as many picks back for them as you can, build with LB, Amare and maybe JRich. Or if you can get something good for Jrich, ship him out too.

This.

 

[nashman]

Trade Amare! Definately do not build around this big mouth ego maniac thats not nearly as good as he is in his own mind! Shaq will be easy to trade later on as some team will be looking to aquire a big expiring contract. Tired of Amares' act ship him out asap!

 

[TJ]

Where is the "neither" option?

 

[AsUdUdE]

this is such a loaded question..

If we are getting market vaule for Amare (IE Butler, Blatche, and #5) then you trade him

If the Suns are getting Delonte West and Wallace in return for Shaq then you trade him

If the Suns are not getting vaule for them, you don't trade either...

Soo.. I don't know how to answer this question...

 

[devilalum]

this is such a loaded question..

If we are getting market vaule for Amare (IE Butler, Blatche, and #5) then you trade him

If the Suns are getting Delonte West and Wallace in return for Shaq then you trade him

If the Suns are not getting vaule for them, you don't trade either...

Soo.. I don't know how to answer this question...

I guess I would say all things being equal who would you rather trade. If you had a smokin deal on the table for each player but were only willing to trade one who would it be?

I still say you can get more talent for Amare.

 

[mojorizen7]

Trade Shaq and Nash.
Trade them to a contender while getting best available value(obviously).
However, i wouldn't get too caught up in getting a fair trade value in return.
Moving these guys now(especially Nash)will accelerate the process of formulating a plan to rebuild simply by their absence. It will also give the team a chance to decide on a style of play without being locked into a certain style because of the aging piece(s) on this roster(wink wink).

 

[mojorizen7]

this is such a loaded question..

If we are getting market vaule for Amare (IE Butler, Blatche, and #5) then you trade him

If the Suns are getting Delonte West and Wallace in return for Shaq then you trade him

If the Suns are not getting vaule for them, you don't trade either...

Soo.. I don't know how to answer this question...

My opinion is that if a team is retooling or tinkering then you must demand the highest market value in any moves made ,so not to take a step back when already competing at a high level.


When initially rebuilding you need to go with addition by subtraction when fair market value appears unachievable IMO.
If Shaq,Nash,Hill etc remain here for another year,there is no clear definition of direction....the young players that we'd like to rely upon and continue to develop(Barbosa,Lou,Dudley,Dragic) would be best served by giving them leadership roles,even small roles, on this team. Again, just tell Amare and Barbosa to go try and score 80 pts a night between them and stress/coach defense.
Lets move on and figure out what we've got here,attempt to secure one or two future picks or one or two young prospects by moving thses guys(Shaq/Nash).
It is a complicated issue. I honestly wonder if the SUNS FO has a plan or a vision as to where they want to take this franchise? I have my doubts.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Trade Amare! Definately do not build around this big mouth ego maniac thats not nearly as good as he is in his own mind! Shaq will be easy to trade later on as some team will be looking to aquire a big expiring contract. Tired of Amares' act ship him out asap!

I have zero issues with ego and a big mouth, if anything poll 100 people to define a big mouth and massive ego maniac and you're going to get a hell of a lot more "Shaq" responses.

Anyways, the common fan's taste for humility (And more importantly the perception of humility) hopefully has zero impact on whether you make a move or not. I only have to point to Eric Brynes as exibit A. Massive ego, massive mouth, but good white surfer dude fun = common fan relates. Amare's no different than EB or Shaq ego wise, the only difference is that he does not apeal to fat white dudes selective taste in egomania. "Shaq haha dats t00 funey, haha lolzorz, I'll taste a$$ plz Shaq."

There also seems to be some strange myopic hysteria around Amare's ego created locally, and this crazy idea he's worth nothing so ship him out. That would be the end of the franchise for half a decade, but hey at least the Suns won't have anymore ego maniacs.

Show me a team of 12 sweet Lous and I'll show you 20 wins.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Trade none of them. Give Gentry an entire season with this roster. If they fail then you get the salary relief from Nash and Shaq off the books.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Trade Amare! Definately do not build around this big mouth ego maniac thats not nearly as good as he is in his own mind! Shaq will be easy to trade later on as some team will be looking to aquire a big expiring contract. Tired of Amares' act ship him out asap!

I'd love to know your thoughts about trading Nash, although it probably won't take clairvoyance to figure them out.

 

[Bufalay]

Show me a team of 12 sweet Lous and I'll show you 20 wins.

20? Maybe if they were playing in the WNBA

 

[Andrew]

Trade none of them. Give Gentry an entire season with this roster. If they fail then you get the salary relief from Nash and Shaq off the books.

Wow, first post by you I completely agree with...

 

[Chaz]

Trade none of them. Give Gentry an entire season with this roster. If they fail then you get the salary relief from Nash and Shaq off the books.

Yea that.

I can't see any trades that would improve the roster more than the 20+M in expiring contracts we already have.

 

[HooverDam]

Also why does everyone seem to think if the Suns keep Amare they have to build 'around' Amare? Why can't they build with Amare? That is to say, sure maybe Amare isn't the type of guy who can be the #1 dude on a championship level team, but we've seen he makes a really good #2. Keep him, maybe keep JRich depending on what the market for him is, and try to find a #1 guy. Even if you can't find that guy in time to pair him with Amare, LB & Jrich, you've still got a team thats about where it is now, too crappy to go far in the playoffs but probably not a lottery team- which seems to be fine with a lot of folks (see below).

Trade none of them. Give Gentry an entire season with this roster. If they fail then you get the salary relief from Nash and Shaq off the books.

I hate this plan, whats the best thing that comes of it, a first round exit? That really doesn't do it for me, I hated those years of first round exits back in the Kidd-Chapman days, what snoozers. Id rather get the rebuilding process started sooner rather than later.

 

[cly2tw]

Keep them both and trade Nash.

Second that!

The poll should look like this: In which order would you like the Suns to trade the core players, first to last

Nash-Shaq-Amare
Nash-Amare-Shaq
Amare-Nash-Shaq
Amare-Shaq-Nash
Shaq-Nash-Amare
Shaq-Amare-Nash

my choice would be Nash-Shaq-Amare, and actually just trade Nash and keep both Amare and Shaq.

 

[cly2tw]

My opinion is that if a team is retooling or tinkering then you must demand the highest market value in any moves made ,so not to take a step back when already competing at a high level.


When initially rebuilding you need to go with addition by subtraction when fair market value appears unachievable IMO.
If Shaq,Nash,Hill etc remain here for another year,there is no clear definition of direction....the young players that we'd like to rely upon and continue to develop(Barbosa,Lou,Dudley,Dragic) would be best served by giving them leadership roles,even small roles, on this team. Again, just tell Amare and Barbosa to go try and score 80 pts a night between them and stress/coach defense.
Lets move on and figure out what we've got here,attempt to secure one or two future picks or one or two young prospects by moving thses guys(Shaq/Nash).
It is a complicated issue. I honestly wonder if the SUNS FO has a plan or a vision as to where they want to take this franchise? I have my doubts.

Agree with all.
Relying on Nash's ball dominance to achieve 1-and-done a la Kidd-Chapman area for the next 3 years is just stupid. Give the ball to Amare/LB/Dragic and let them make mistakes and learn from them!
As to Amare, despite all his deficiencies and big mouth, he comes with a set of skills and qualities that are harder to come by in this league than you could get in an avg. top-3 pick, nor from the nice players like Butler, Deng, Tyrus. He might not be the leader to lead us to the promised land, but you don't just dump him because of that or the fact that a lot of teams would give him a max deal as FA which you are not willing to.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Agree with all.
Relying on Nash's ball dominance to achieve 1-and-done a la Kidd-Chapman area for the next 3 years is just stupid. Give the ball to Amare/LB/Dragic and let them make mistakes and learn from them!
As to Amare, despite all his deficiencies and big mouth, he comes with a set of skills and qualities that are harder to come by in this league than you could get in an avg. top-3 pick, nor from the nice players like Butler, Deng, Tyrus. He might not be the leader to lead us to the promised land, but you don't just dump him because of that or the fact that a lot of teams would give him a max deal as FA which you are not willing to.

Agree with both of you, Amare can be a good piece on a great team. He may magically start playing passable defense as well. Of course he has injury concerns, but it's tough to find potential super stars in the front court, and with our lack of picks coming up, it doesn't matter anyway.

I also really believe in Leandro, and think he can be an above average starter at shooting guard. Porter didn't do much, but its obvious that some of his defensive advice did help Leandro, who was much more active in the passing lanes and a noticeably better defender.

 

[cly2tw]

Agree with both of you, Amare can be a good piece on a great team. He may magically start playing passable defense as well. Of course he has injury concerns, but it's tough to find potential super stars in the front court, and with our lack of picks coming up, it doesn't matter anyway.

I also really believe in Leandro, and think he can be an above average starter at shooting guard. Porter didn't do much, but its obvious that some of his defensive advice did help Leandro, who was much more active in the passing lanes and a noticeably better defender.

Agree on Porter. LB's offense started to be more under control this year under Porter too. Also, Porter gave Amare some high-post ball distribution duties a las Diaw, which Amare did rather well. But posting up Shaq too much in addition was his demise, as Nash's ball dominance reduced greatly to the point he balked with his pal Bell.

As to Amare, even without further development on lowpost moves, he is IMO about the level of Karl Malone on offense, actually with a better jump shot. Malone had been an average defender most of his career too, getting better only very late in his career. Dump him for injury concern, yes. But for basketball one? Just crazy.

 

[Covert Rain]

Keep them both and trade Nash.

That would be my first choice. We need a defensive minded PG on this team.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Just imagine if we did trade Amare, and he turned into a great defender to go a long with his dominating offensive game, we would look like the dumbest ****'s on the face of the planet. I would trade Shaq over Amare, especially considering Amare and Nash are the best pick and roll players in the league, and to go with the fact that Gentry will be playing up-tempo offense, Shaq just doesn't fit. I understand Amare's maturity issues, but when we start winning again, that will disipate fairly quickly. Amare is probably one of the best offensive PF's in the game, if not THE best, so i'm not so sure the suns will trade him. Kerr, however, has proven time and time again he will make all the necessary moves to ensure the Suns pick in the lottery.

 

[Covert Rain]

Just imagine if we did trade Amare, and he turned into a great defender to go a long with his dominating offensive game, we would look like the dumbest ****'s on the face of the planet. I would trade Shaq over Amare, especially considering Amare and Nash are the best pick and roll players in the league, and to go with the fact that Gentry will be playing up-tempo offense, Shaq just doesn't fit. I understand Amare's maturity issues, but when we start winning again, that will disipate fairly quickly. Amare is probably one of the best offensive PF's in the game, if not THE best, so i'm not so sure the suns will trade him. Kerr, however, has proven time and time again he will make all the necessary moves to ensure the Suns pick in the lottery.

Who cares about an up tempo offense? That philosophy doesn't fit with winning a title. To much is sacrificed on the defensive end for the sake of this D'Antoni system.

I am not in favor of keeping any player (Nash, Shaq or Amare) for the sake of this system. I want them to keep the players that will have the biggest impact defense wise and go from there.

The biggest liabilities are Nash, JRich and Amare. They are the weakest link....goodbye.