Premature Speculation... Percentile Dysfunction

So, right before last Thursday night's game against the Nuggets, I stupidly bragged about how great the J-Rich trade was for the Suns, and how we were 9-3 since his acquisition, and will be a top 4 team in the west. Flash forward one week, and now the Suns have dropped 4/5, including a blowout to the Celtics and losses to sub .500 teams in the T-Wolves and Knicks. Humble pie, how I hate thee.

The only reason we're still in the thick of it has more to do with the equal ineptitude of our western competition than anything we're doing ourselves. Dallas, Portland, and Utah all lost last night too. In fact, we're only 5-5 in our last ten, but that's the same for Portland too. The Jazz (despite their myriad of injuries... Millsap just came back and now AK is out) are 6-4 in their last 10 while Dallas is actually 4-6. Speaking of Dallas... I guess you can say our blowout loss to the Celts was more respectable/understandable than their blowout loss to the Bucks. But naw, really, it's just sad/pathetic all over for seeds 5-8 in the west. With everybody else's struggles, this would have been a REALLY good time to put some distance between us and the rest of the pack. We SHOULD have gone at least 4-1 in this stretch, but alas, no, the Suns are chokers extraordinaires.

I really think the Suns need another trade. And like I said, the only chip we have left is Amare Stoudemire, and he REALLY needs to go. Yesterday against the Knicks, he let Steve Nash (6) and Grant Hill (5) outrebound him (4). And this is just 1 game after the Boston Massacre where Amare was outplayed by Brian friggin Scalabrine. His line in Boston? 3 pts (0-7 shooting), 1 rebound, 0 assists, 4 turnovers, in 30 minutes! Bah! That's the most pathetic line I've ever seen. It's one thing to be cold, but seriously, 1 rebound? How can you be 6-10 with his athleticism and get just 1 rebound? To be considered an All-Star and play 30 minutes and give such a pitiful effort is just sad.

Still though, despite all that ranting, he's probably the Suns' biggest trade asset right now, both in terms of perceived value and contract size. He can probably net us two quality players... ideally an above average starting quality PF (all-star not required) and a solid backup pg. Youth for both prefered but not necessary. You can see some of my previous Trade Amare ideas in this older post.