Amar’e Stoudemire is in the final year of his deal with the Knicks, one that will pay him more than $23 million this season.
Unless, of course, he were to agree to a buyout of his deal -- something that Stoudemire will reportedly take the All-Star break to consider.
Should that happen, plenty of teams would be interested in acquiring his services. The Mavericks were at one point considered to be frontrunners, but if the latest report is to be believed, it’s hard to imagine Golden State being anything less than Stoudemire’s preferred option.
From Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News:In my column last night/today, I mentioned that the Warriors would definitely have some interest in Knicks PF Amar’e Stoudemire if he is bought out by New York in the next few weeks.
Stoudemire isn’t close to the same player he was 8 years ago and not even what he was 3 or 4 years ago, he’s always a health risk, and he has always been a shaky defensive player… plus it sounds like he might want to end up with Dallas, anyway.
But Stoudemire starred under Alvin Gentry in Phoenix… when Kerr was the GM there… and I think both men might be able to see a back-up 4/5 role for Stoudemire with the Warriors if he was interested in coming for a playoff sprint.
Stoudemire, maybe for 4 or 5-minute stretches, can do one thing no Warriors big man can do currently–get on the post, power his way to the rim, then finish with scoring skill.
The prior relationship with Gentry and Kerr from Stoudemire’s days in Phoenix would almost certainly vault the Warriors to the top of his list, but it’s far from guaranteed that a buyout could be agreed upon, or if it’s even something that Stoudemire is interested in.
He’ll be a free agent at the conclusion of this season no matter what happens, and uprooting himself for nothing more than a temporary situation lasting three or four months may not be all that appealing, unless minutes and a particular role on a contender were essentially guaranteed.
Add in the fact that Amar’e probably wants to get every last penny on his deal for this year when considering just how reduced his next contract will be, and it’s far from a foregone conclusion that he’ll be available to play elsewhere for the remainder of the season.