I ended up voting yes, since you said Draft Pick and expiring for Amare. But I would not do the trade if we lose the Draft pick and either Shock and Hawes in that equation. That seems too much.

Still, Stoudemire gives this team a proven all-star, a young big that we could make our franchise guy. Martin won’t be the focus of the defense anymore and Stoudemire will most likely demand a double team, leading to more open opportunities for Martin and Garcia.

If Amare came to Sacramento, I might whine about who we lost or what we gave up for him, but that doesn’t mean our team doesn’t get better immediately.

I want Rubio in a Kings uniform. Griffin? Would be nice, but I think JT will be very good, so to me, that cancels out Griffin.

If they can’t get Rubio, then I say go for Amare. I think Amare would be a great compliment to Martin. Nice 1-2 punch on offense. Defense? Eek.

A 100% chance at Amare is greater than the best case odds at landing whatever rookie you prefer. And under this setup, your front line is now Amare/JT/Hawes, and they can play in any combination. Nice.

As I have said before, I completely respect the opinion of those that do not want Stoudemire coming here. I just happen to think that he’s worth the risk.

is going to be. At least that’s my take at the present time. The real question is with Rubio, who because of his position could be more of a game-changer than either. But with the odds of getting him and him actually deciding to come over up in the air, Stoudemire is more of a sure thing.

I proposed in another thread:

Kings get Stoudemire and Robin Lopez..

Suns get JT, Salmons, BJax, Sheldon and next year’s No. 1.

But that’s not the whole equation. Amare also is up for a contract renewal in which he could walk away, and he’s a microfracture survivor. I think when you factor all that in, the security of having a top pick and a (hopfully) really good player for four years at $4-5 million is greater and more valuable than Amare given the uncertainty of his knees and contract (not to mention motivation).

So I say no.

Also think Teague has to be in this discussion — anyone who still thinks Holiday is a top pick hasn’t been watching UCLA.

and he is still 26.

There is a worst case scenario 77.55% chance the Kings DON’T get the 1-2 pick for 2009
There is a best case scenario 57.2% chance the Kings DON"Tt get the 1-2 pick for 2009

Play the ESPN’s Draft Lottery http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/lottery2009/mockdraft and run it 20 times in a row. I get very frustated becasue it has the Kings with the most likely chance of #1 and they don’t get it every time. That’s because it runs these odds on a random numberr generator which is a close reproduction of the actual ping pong ball lottery.

You can cross your fingers just so much. I have said this earlier in a post – Amare is PROVEN the other guys are hopefuls. We can debate the proper draft order of 2009 four years from now. I would rather have the poison I know.

If it was top 2 protected.

Don’t want Amare. Want Rubio. Dumping players for cap space. But here would be the ultimate best scenario if you’re Geoff Petrie. Ricky Rubio declaring for the 2010 draft, and you nabbing him that year, as well as nabbing Griffin in 2009. That changes the dynamic of this franchise completely. That is, unless, of course you’re talking about something else. I also think this team will continue to dump salary because it matters.

Do I think Rubio will come out? Yes, I do for a few reason’s. A his buyout won’t go down in 2010, and if his buyout is at 7 million euro’s, he can obviously negotiate a fixed price on that buyout, and buy it out before the euro rise’s again. (Or the dollar perhaps.) It’s a bit of a skewed argument I admit, but it’s hard for me to see Rubio not declaring with the likelihood of him being a first or second pick this year or next. Whether he comes over is another matter. That’s another matter altogether. That being said, this team needs 2 stars, and if Jason Thompson isn’t it, and Donte Greene doesn’t emerge, for whatever reason, then the 2010 draft will need to wield the same level of talent that the 2009 draft could for this team.

I think the Kings will consider buying out Kenny Thomas or Brad Miller if they can get a favorable buyout. That is assuming they can’t dump either salary. (I also think this puts the Portland possibility into play. I still think they have a great chance ot make a move here with regarding to Salmons, and not take on excessive salary—Thomas/Salmons— to make a deal work. This would be in antithesis to a bigger name like Richard Jefferson. For instance anyway. A Pure salary dump is still just that. If you’re the Maloof’s and you dump a significant amount of salary, and you get a pick like Griffin or Rubio, and the fans won’t come out, then you have a problem. Until then, I don’t think the franchise is in real trouble. Not yet anyway.)

Bottom line, I like the position this team is in if the Maloof’s don’t spend all of Petrie’s time talking about their financial position first. Look at the damage this is doing to Phoenix.I can understand not doing a bad financial deal. I can understand calculating the odd’s on Rubio/Griffin, and which one you think is best. But if you don’t dump salary, and some dead weight on this roster, it’s going to make the fix that much more difficult. Of course, it’s also going to make the roster cheaper too eventually. What worries so much is that this roster is so expensive, AND so bad. What worries me is that the Maloof’s financial situation is so prominently mentioned constantly. I hope this is a blip on the radar screen, but I fear it is not.

Have a good the rest of the All-Star weekend folks.

As long as we know Rubio is not coming out I would do that trade. I know waiting is tricky but if Amare is still a Sun after the trade deadline then our chnces increase exponentially. I think there is a big chance Amare is not going to be traded before the deadline. I don’t think the Suns are going to gie him away just for the hell of it. They better get what they want and if they don’t, they could easily wait for the summer.

The reason I mentionRubio is that we need a PG and cannot, IMO, not pick Rubio if available (double negative ya’ll…. what!). To know if he’s declaring and if we had the pick to get him means we need to wait for the lottery and make decisions from there. By then, we would also be able to make an educated decision whether Griffin or the other prospects are going to help this team more than Amare would, not only then but also in the future.

I know he has a chance of leaving in ’10 but with a rotation up front of Amare, Hawes, and JT with (a year older) Speed and Cisco we could have a nice foundation for big things. Worse case scenario we sign and trade him or let him expire.

A lot of this also depends on the Kings dumping the bad contracts and don’t forget about the coach. If we get Eddie Jordan (not advocating, just talking possibilities) and go to run and gun don’t you think Amare may want to stick around?? Just saying…..