Phoenix’s decision to stand pat took much of the luster off of what could have been a wild trade deadline

SCOTT JACOBS

Amare Stoudemire is staying put.  So is Shaq, who the Cavs were apparently in hot pursuit of.  And with those two big names staying in the Valley of the Sun, and the over-hyped Vince Carter staying in Jersey, this trading deadline was about as memorable as Paul Blart’s Mall Cop (aka: very much forgettable).

The biggest trade?  Don’t laugh: Rafer Alston going from Houston to Orlando.  The Magic were in dire need of a point guard after Jameer Nelson got hurt, and for a first round pick and essentially Brian Cook, were able to pry the oft-traveling Alston (this will be his sixth team) from the Rockets.  Alston should do a decent job, but to say he puts the Magic back into contender status seems alittle much.

The Knicks made so many trades that I don’t feel any of them are worth mentioning.  But Nate Robinson may be dealt to the Kings.  Why?  Take a wild guess.  Yeah, the 2010 free agency pool is approaching, and the Knicks want the best view, so they can’t keep Robinson and David Lee.  Both are set to become free agents after this year, and Mike D’Antoni has already professed his man crush on Lee.

The biggest story though comes out of Phoenix, where the Suns were the talk of the league all week.  After scoring 282 points in their last two games (the first two of the Alvin Gentry Era), the Suns decided that it was worth a shot to see if the re-emergence of running and gunning could make them a contender again.  But it was close.  If the Cavs threw in Wally Sczerbiak’s expiring contract into a deal for Shaq, the Suns would be taking a ton of heat for making a major salary dump when things finally started to look good again.

But they’re holding onto both for the rest of the year.  As of press time, the Suns were sitting in 9th place, but just a handful of games from the fourth seed.  Lots of basketball to be played, and apparently Shaq thinks the Suns will finish their final 31 games, 22-9 at worst.  That would leave the 30-23 Suns with 52 wins, which would get them into the NBA’ s second season.

The bigger question remains though: if the Suns make the playoffs (I think they will), can they be an elite team again?  At least we’ll find out, after they decided to keep everybody together.

It’s safe to say 2009 was no 2008 when it came to trades.  Shaq, Kidd, Gasol all were dealt last year.  This year’s biggest name besides Billups and A.I. (which was super early in the season) was probably Shaun Marion and Jermaine O’Neal, whose new respective teams lost yesterday.

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