Trade Mania:

as the trade deadline rapidly approaches this thursday, i thought i would take this opportunity to comment on recent trades on those currently being discussed.

first, caron butler, brendan haywood and some chumps for josh howard and some chumps with shorter contracts. this is a huge deal for the mavs. butler is the truth, a paul pierce type with slightly less talent but more grit (and better D). plus haywood is an upgrade on dampier as a slightly better stiff seven foot center. mavs get two new starters, and butler gives them some serious edge. they might be the no. 2 team in the west with this deal.

second, marcus camby to the blazers for travis outlaw and steve blake. blazers felt like they had to make this deal because oden and pryzbilla are down with injuries. probably a good move, i guess. but outlaw is a solid wing, made some important plays for them. as will blake, who is a consumate PG type; a great backup, and a passable starter. they'll miss those two more than they think. and is this a good deal long-term (i think camby walks after this season)? i don't know.

now onto the amare stoudemire fray. i for one think the cavs would be better advised to trade for jamison instead, and then try to bring in bosh in the off-season. stoudemire trade clearly precludes a bosh signing; and while stoudemire is a talent, he plays no D and has had two knee surgeries at a young age. no guarantee he holds up.

for the heat, however, i think dealing for stoudemire would make sense. they need to make a play to be competitive and keep wade in town. there are rumblings they'll run at bosh as well, but for me it's hard to imagine he a) doesn't prefer to sign with bron bron and the cavs, b) wouldn't take some of the knicks money, and c) would leave toronto who has more money to offer. miami seems like the fourth most likely team he'll play with next year. if he's playing with wade, it'll probably be in NY.

btw, the knicks are making a smart play by trying to trade for mcgrady. yes, you heard that right. i know mcgrady is washed up and always injured, and a little bit of a priss. but if they dump jefferies on the rockets in the deal, they can now sign two guys for max deals. the knicks suck, but if they signed two of marquee FAs (bron, wade, bosh), they'd instantly be one of the favorites for the title. and i'm sure those guys would like to play in NY. i think a knicks team with wade and bosh is a real possibility (bosh might opt to play with wade instead of bron if it's in NY). have also heard that bosh wants to be "the man", though. maybe he will take chicago's money, play with derrick rose. he'd definitely share the limelight, but it's different when it's with a PG.

the bron sweepstakes is going to be nuts this summer. i for one def hope he stays in cleveland. but who knows? bron and wade together in NY is feasible too if the mcgrady trade happens.