NBA Trade Rumors: Is Philadelphia Really in the Hunt for Amar'e Stoudemire? on Astini News

Rod Thorn wants to make us believe the Amar'e Stoudemire rumors came out of thin air, but everyone knows, denials of smoke don't mean there was never a fire.

It isn't as if we've never heard a rumor denied by a general manager, only to see some variance of that deal completed later. In a sense, GMs are no more than politicians—take from that analogy what you like.

Here are some things to consider in this scenario.

GMs and Owners Will Almost Always Deny Trade Rumors

In 2009, Wizards owner Ted Leonsis denied rumors that he was looking to trade then-star Gilbert Arenas to the Orlando Magic. This was before the "chi" fell off his Hibachi. At the time, one of the rumors was that Vince Carter, who played for Orlando then, would be a part of the deal.

As we would later see, Arenas was indeed dealt to the Magic. It was in exchange for Rashard Lewis, not Vince Carter, even though Carter was traded to Phoenix earlier in the day.

The trade didn't happen until the following year. Though the deal wasn't exactly as had been rumored, the same teams were involved, and ultimately the same marquee players moved, even with "honest" Ted saying the talk was nothing more than rumors.

Many teams' front offices and ownership feel the need to be deceiving when discussing trade talks. They prefer to avoid unnecessarily distracting or irritating players who have not been officially moved.

Take a look at the Lamar Odom fiasco. Odom went all emo on the Lakers after the first Chris Paul deal fell through that forced them to move him to Dallas.

Players can be understandably sensitive about trades, and speaking too soon about talks can create a problem, especially if the deal doesn't go through. The Odom situation was a bit unavoidable for the Lakers, but it shows what the cons can be.

In addition, general managers never like to show their hand. It can relinquish leverage for future deals with other teams.

If Thorn is outward about his desire to trade for Stoudemire, it may ignite interest from other teams, mainly their Eastern Conference rivals.

From a competition standpoint, it can be hurtful.

Adding STAT Makes Sense

The Sixers need a go-to scoring guy. The scoring-by-committee is a nice concept, but most teams that win the NBA championship have a guy.

The Lakers have Kobe Bryant, the Mavericks have Dirk Nowitzki—the only possible exception were the 2003-2004 Detroit Pistons. That team still had Chauncey Billups to go to for big shots.

Whom do the Sixers have? Jrue Holiday? Don't get me wrong, I love Holiday, but I don't think a 21-year-old with a career scoring average of 11.2 points per game can be called a go-to guy just yet.

Stoudemire is an unquestioned 20-point-per-game scorer. At this point, its the only element the Sixers are missing.

The team is already built on defense, and they have several players bringing that to the table. That is evidenced by their NBA-best 87.4 points allowed. Now they need a true scorer to improve their ability to get buckets in clutch situations.

The Sixers average 24 points per game in the fourth quarter, but 66 percent of those points come in transition. That will not be effective in the playoffs. Stoudemire provides the solid, half-court go-to man the Sixers need.

Whether the rumor is exactly right or accurate in principle remains to be seen, but I believe there is something to it. The Sixers are looking to win, and they know they are close. Stoudemire makes too much sense not to be considered, no matter what anyone says.