I respect Ken Berger’s dedication to protecting his sources like the good journalist he is, but it doesn’t take too much guesswork to figure out which NBA team he’s referring to with this nugget about Amar’e Stoudemire’s injury problems.
Miami Heat Probably Tried To Trade For Amar’e Stoudemire At 2008 NBA Draft
At one point, an Eastern Conference team had a deal in place to acquire Stoudemire from the Suns for a top-five pick, and the trade was rejected by the team's medical staff because Stoudemire "might not be playing in five years," an official from that team said. That was four years ago.
Four years ago was 2008. In 2008, two Eastern Conference teams held top-five draft picks: the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat. The Bulls had the No. 1 pick and fell in love with Derrick Rose pretty quickly. The Heat were not wild about Michael Beasley, the consensus No. 2 prospect, floated the idea of taking O.J. Mayo (who went No. 3) instead before picking Beasley anyway, only to see all the concerns they had about him play out in real life.
Hmmm....
To add the cherry on top, what’s the dateline of Berger’s latest column prior to this one? Why, Miami of course.
Unless Berger’s years are off, it appears the Miami Heat nearly traded for Amar’e Stoudemire in 2008. Imagine how much the NBA landscape may have changed if that deal actually happened.
See More:
