source: Bret Greenberg - dailyillini.com

While the best basketball players in the world were playing a pick-up game in front of more than 100,000 fans this past weekend, NBA executives were toiling away in the back offices, trying to find a way to not look stupid before the trade deadline. That’s right, after Thursday at 2 p.m., someone will probably be fired. But of course, these same executives were also keeping an eye on the game to make sure none of their prized players took a nasty spill.
When Dwyane Wade, the eventual All-Star Game MVP, hit the floor awkwardly Sunday night and popped up quickly, I’m sure there were plenty of sighs of relief coming out of South Beach. But after a summer where team president Pat Riley showed his confidence in the team’s personnel by signing only Quentin Richardson, there hasn’t been much else to be relieved about in Miami. Maybe the Heat can take solace in the fact that they compete in the East and can make the playoffs playing mediocre basketball. But currently sitting in the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference at a game under .500 before Tuesday night’s games, Riley can’t be too happy about his offseason decision.
Wade does a lot for his squad. That includes keeping it competitive each year that he’s healthy. But honestly, I think he’s sick of carrying the burden alone. His role players are underwhelming. They aren’t even worth me talking about in this column. The Heat’s only regular-season pickups have been point guards Carlos Arroyo and Rafer Alston. But in the grand scheme of making a dent in the playoffs, this is really just about as helpful as putting a Band-Aid on a broken foot.
At least for Wade’s sake, the Heat have been in the news with trade talks for Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire. That’s not a bad thing to be in the news about. Stoudemire is a capable 20 and 10 guy if you push him to rebound. Miami’s current starting center, Jermaine O’Neal, had the potential to ratchet up his game this season because he’s been healthy, but he really didn’t capitalize. I wouldn’t call 13 points and seven rebounds a game the revitalization of Jermaine O’Neal.
On the Phoenix Sun’s end, they are looking to get value from their All-Star who has an option to leave town after this year or make them pay big money on the last year of his contract. I won’t even get started talking about how terribly Steve Kerr has managed the Suns organization. The word that comes to mind is obliteration. But getting rid of Stoudemire will certainly send the Suns spiraling into the bottom of the West. And trust me, there is nothing in Miami that’s worth trading half of your bread and butter. The Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire Show must go on in the desert.
The other big suitor for Mr. Stoudemire is, shockingly, the Cleveland Cavaliers. They are pushing just like everyone else to get more competitive. This is quite amazing, though, because they currently hold the best overall record in the NBA.
Oh, the things general manager Danny Ferry will do to keep LeBron James happy in Cleveland. The Cavs are also reportedly looking at Wizards forward Antawn Jamison and Warriors forward Corey Maggette. All three would be fantastic additions to the seemingly endless roster the Cavs possess. The rumor is Cleveland would send forward J.J. Hickson and center Zydrunas Ilgauskas to Phoenix. That’s no sweat for the Cavs. They would start Shaq and Stoudemire together and bring Anderson Varejao off the bench. And when they want to go smaller they can put Stoudemire at the center position.
It looks fantastic on paper for Cleveland with one exception: Shaq and Stoudemire have a history of not playing their best together. When the wonderful Steve Kerr brought Shaq to Phoenix, the Suns lost some of their flow offensively. But with the slower half-court offense of the Cavs combined with LeBron’s one-man fast break, I think it might just work out fine.
The one thing I’ve learned about this trade deadline is that people can make money off of making rumors. If you’re interested, you can find rumors about what every team in the NBA is about to do on Wednesday and Thursday.
In fact, by the time you read this, the proposed trades I’ve talked about could be irrelevant. But the knowledge you’ve gained will last forever. So if you want to take a couple things away from this column, it’s that Wade needs help in Miami, Cleveland is the smartest franchise in the league and Steve Kerr is incompetent as a general manager of a professional basketball franchise.
Bret Greenberg is a senior in Media. He can be reached at bgreenb4@illinimedia.com.