This Amare Stoudemire situation is very interesting. I was convinced that Miami was going to be his new home. I didn’t think that the Suns would be thrilled with getting Shawn Marion back, but they have no hope this season anyway, and his contract will be helpful in the massive rebuilding they are suddenly faced with. That all blew up, of course, when Marion oddly ended up in Toronto in exchange for Jermaine O’Neal. I don’t think that O’Neal will particularly help the Heat – he certainly hasn’t shown much health or interest in Toronto, and that was after saying how excited he was to join Chris Bosh. It’s a great deal for Toronto. They get the room to figure out what to do next to turn this into a contender. Their current path sure isn’t working. As for Amare, now I need to find a new home for him. I still think the best home is Phoenix, and I hope he stays there. If he goes anywhere, though, then I think it will be the Cavs . The Bulls have more to give up and might make more sense for Phoenix,but I still can’t figure out why they would make the deal for him now. The Cavs could certainly use him, Danny Ferry and Steve Kerr are buddies, and Amare would probably be happy because he’d have a very good shot at a title. The rest of the teams mentioned just don’t make sense to me. I don’t see why they would trade him to Portland to make a team in their own conference that much stronger, and I think that the rumors of the Lakers deal are stupid. The Suns would never help the Lakers, and Amare does not seem like a good fit for the triangle – especially with Andrew Bynum in town.

Speaking of trades,there is a truly dumb story coming out of Atlanta. The Atlanta Falcons are trying to trade Michael Vick’s rights. The GM has acknowledged that the story is true, so it isn’t just aninternet tale. I don’t get for a second why a team would give up anything for the rights. Vick is under contract until 2013, but it’s for serious starter money. Vick is a pariah and a massive, massive risk. Any team that would be interested in him will be interested at almost no money, and they won’t give up anything for him. Any team that gives up anything for Vick’s rights immediately moves to the top of my list for worst teams in the league.