The re-evaluation under way in Phoenix, according to sources, could very well point to a change in strategy with regard to Stoudemire, who has an early-termination option after the 2009-10 season and, if he doesn't exercise it, would be an unrestricted free agent seeking a max deal in 2011. Trading him now is problematic; he'd either take his new team out of the running for a second max free agent in 2010 if he doesn't opt out, or present the unsavory option of leaving as a free agent after only one year.
It's not impossible, though. Based on his feelings for D'Antoni, it's clear Stoudemire would accept a trade to New York and provide reasonable assurances that he'd re-sign there. But just as the Suns have grown tired of Stoudemire's lack of defense and frequent complaints about playing style, D'Antoni might be especially wary having coached him for five years.
Though he certainly possesses the size and athleticism to defend, Stoudemire long has struggled to make an impact on that end of the floor. Under D'Antoni, for whom Stoudemire produced 21 30-point games last season, those deficiencies were masked. With Shaq clogging the middle this season, Stoudemire has managed only three 30-point games and is getting fewer close-in baskets; 62.5 percent of his field goals have been at the rim compared with 70 percent last season, according to the Arizona Republic.
More to the point, Stoudemire's inability or unwillingness to meet Porter's defensive demands are no longer so easily disguised. Stunningly, he has averaged 5.7 rebounds in the last 11 games. Phoenix is one of 12 teams allowing more than 100 points per game, and of those, only Denver has a clear path to the playoffs.
"We've got to defend," O'Neal said, leaving little to the imagination in what seemed to be an indictment of Stoudemire's defensive play. "We've got to be there when the rotations call for us to be there. ... You've just got to be there and you've got to want to play defense."
The Suns grew tired of Shawn Marion for different reasons and shipped him to Miami in the Shaq deal. Marion, with a $17.2 million expiring contract, is on the verge of being traded again after failing to make the kind of impact he so often felt he was denied in Phoenix, given the assortment of talent he supported.
Could Stoudemire be next? The next four weeks before the Feb. 19 trade deadline will be crucial -- for the Suns and for Stoudemire. The Suns can't change the direction they're going. If Stoudemire doesn't want to go with them, it could be time for another kind of change.
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