There’s been speculation raised recently that the Suns are realizing they either can’t or won’t pay Amare Stoudamire to re-sign this offseason and that the Heat, among other teams, have shown interest in him.

Here’s the thing, Heat fans. The Suns would only do this trade to receive Michael Beasley in return. They don’t need expiring contracts because, well, Amare IS expiring already. They’d be better off keeping him and using him as a sign and trade bait in the offseason, and get something from someone in return… a player, picks, etc.

Now if you’d move Beasley, who has been steadily improving and is cheap for Amare, who’d you have to be to re-sign at a max contract is a fair debate.

The cons: Amare has had injury trouble in the past, has had microfracture knee surgery, and bases his game on athleticism. He is going to be 28 in November, and has a lot of mileage already. He is a great player, but Beasley is 1/4th the price and 7 years younger. One can argue Amare is tailor suited in the offense he is already in, playing with one of the best point guards of all time in a high octane system, and yet never has stood out as a winning player. You’d be giving up the chance at LeBron or Bosh in the offseason.

Pros: By trading for a chip you’d like to have now, you can trade off your other assets (expiring contracts like Jermaine O’Neal, Quentin Richardson, Dorell Wright) for other pieces and be ready to make a move. Other names who we’ve heard as potentially being available include Andre Iguodala, Tracy McGrady, and any Washington Wizard, up to and including George Muresan and Micheal Adams.

My verdict: I see the appeal if the target was Bosh, which is not likely now that Toronto has gotten hot and is playing well. To me, Amare is not worth Beasley at this point, and I’d hold off.

Any thoughts by you guys?