Sixers Might Consider A Deadline Deal for Stoudemire?

There always seems to be one name in the rumor mill whom the Sixers are never able to escape. First it was Omer Asik, because Sam Hinkie and Daryl Morey used to work together and were best friends their whole life and one time during a sleepover in 7th grade the two made a pact that when they both became GMs they would never trade with anyone else. Then there was Dion Waiters, who got linked to Philadelphia because he grew up here and (presumably) his agent leaked he thought he could run the place.

Now, and for god's sake I don't know why, the Sixers cannot escape the clutches that is a possible trade for Amar'e Stoudemire. It started back in July, when they NYPost's Marc Berman said the Sixers were discussing acquiring Stoudemire's services, along with Iman Shumpert to sweeten the pot. For obvious reasons, talks didn't get much further than that.

On Wednesday, BasketballInsiders.com's Steve Kyler brought it up again:

The one that creates the most conversation is the 76ers because they are roughly $16.777 million under the "floor."

In previous Collective Bargaining Agreements, teams had to really spend that amount of money. However, under the current agreement, team salary is calculated on what’s on the roster at the end of the year, meaning the 76ers can and likely will run on the lean side for as long as they can.

[...]

So if the 76ers don’t meet the minimum, their existing guys get bonuses and the team gets to defer paying it until the end of the season.

What’s far more likely is that the long rumored Amar’e Stoudemire to Philadelphia deal gets done at the deadline. The Sixers take on Stoudemire’s $23 million salary cap number, which pushes them way over the minimum. They would only owe him roughly 30 percent of his remaining contract, so they’d end up paying him $7 million in cash and likely extract a draft pick or a rookie scale player for their troubles.

This seems more like speculation then anything else, but I cannot understand how any sort of deal involving the broken down power forward  benefits the Sixers. Sure, Hinkie's ears perk up when he hears a player on the trade block with a degenerative knee or two, but typically they're not on the wrong side of 30, or hell, even 20.

Philadelphia already has a logjam in the front court, presuming they still acquire Anthony Bennett. The organization has made it crystalline clear that their goal is to infuse the team with youth and work with those guys to turn them into actual contributors. The last thing the team wants to do is let Old Man Stat take minutes away from guys like Jarvis Varnado and Henry Sims.

And as a two month rental player, there really isn't much the Sixers could get to make it worth taking Stoudemire on. New York doesn't even have a second rounder to trade until 2018. Unless they want to ship off Shane Larkin, and they shouldn't, I don't see any rookie deal they have that entices me. Sorry, Thanasis.

If Philadelphia has to split up the $16 million they have in room below the floor and give it to their players, then so be it, but they're not going to force a deal to get them over. Especially if it involves whatever is left of Amar'e and the asset cesspool that is the Knicks.