If trading Stoudemire is a financial move Sarver should step aside

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Most reports surrounding the possibility of trading Amare Stoudemire focus on his play and locker room presence as the onus for a deal. What if it has less to do with those reasons and more to do with something else? What if the buzz surrounding the deal is just that, buzz created to mask a less palatable explanation?

What if the Suns are thinking of dealing Amare to alleviate financial problems?

While most of fans and media have been entrenched in thought that a player move is necessary to jump start the Suns TNT’s David Aldridge had a different take.

Almost no one has picked up on the real story behind the shopping of Amar’e Stoudemire in Phoenix, and Tyson Chandler in New Orleans, and the impetus of many teams to be active before the Feb. 19 deadline. It has nothing to do with basketball, no matter what you hear about Amar’e’s lack of defense and Chandler’s history of injuries.

This year, the trade deadline is being influenced like never before because owners who’ve lost millions in the plunging U.S./global economy are determined not only not to be luxury tax payers, but to cut costs as much as possible as quickly as possible, with no intention of allowing their team’s salaries to ever rise near the tax threshold in the foreseeable future.

ESPN.com’s Chad Ford agrees and has heard the Suns may be trying to shed as much as $40 million from their payroll (Amare and Shaq gone?).

With the financial crisis rising and with the Suns sinking in the West, it sounds as if owner Robert Sarver has had enough of his team’s underachievement and its $75 million payroll. The general manager for another team said the Suns’ goal in the next two weeks before the trade deadline was to clear $40 million off the 2009-10 payroll.

It’s understandable that NBA owners and Robert Sarver were hit hard by the economic down turn just like everyone else. What isn’t understandable is making moves that could potentially hurt the on-court product for years to come.

If shedding $40 million off of the 2009-2010 payroll is the goal and there is no intention of raising the payroll much higher than that, then what’s the point?

The goal in Phoenix has never been to make the playoffs. The goal has always been to bring a championship to the Valley of the Sun. While the new ownership group seems to view the Suns as just a cash-generating venture, Jerry Colangelo always understood that.

If Robert Sarver isn’t willing to make moves that elevate the Suns and their fans closer to their ultimate goal, it is time he steps aside and sells the team to someone who will.

The Suns need, no deserve, someone who will keep a competitive payroll and will make moves that are basketball savvy rather than business savvy. Trading talent to shave payroll, selling draft picks and being reluctant to pay the luxury tax just won’t cut it.

The ironic part of the entire thing is a few of the “business moves” that were made to save money in the short term have put the Suns in their financial issues here in the long run. If draft picks weren’t sold for money the Suns would have the infusion of cheap talent needed to keep the team competitive while having a smaller payroll. Instead the Suns invested in higher-paid aging veterans to lead the way. Instead of Rajon Rondo, Rudy Fernandez, Nate Robinson and others the Suns have had the likes of Matt Barnes, Marcus Banks and Jalen Rose.

Rebuilding or retooling with the goal of making the team better is acceptable. Rebuilding or retooling for the sole purpose of saving money isn’t. It may save some cents, but in the long run, it will keep fans from attending games and the cash flow from coming in.

Mr. Sarver, the only way to assure you won’t lose money on the Suns or have to pay the luxury tax while staying popular with the fans of Phoenix is to sell the team to someone who will attempt to win a championship. Maybe try giving Jerry Colangelo a call. He probably has some money available now that he didn’t get the Cubs.

The Dish: Poor economy influencing trade decisions [NBA.com]

Who wants Amare? How about Shaq? [ESPN.com]

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Tags: Amare Stoudemire, Chad Ford, David Aldridge, Jerry Colangelo, Robert Sarver

February 10th, 2009 12:18 PM PST