Miami Reportedly Working Out Plan to Land Amare

On Thursday, reports indicated that Memphis had dropped out of bidding for Amare Stoudemire due to the high price Phoenix sought. But apparently the Grizzlies' gaze just shifted east: Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski reports Miami, Memphis and Phoenix are discussing a deal that would land Amare in South Beach, Rudy Gay and Shawn Marion with the Suns, and Michael Beasley with the Grizz.

The Heat gets the deal's best player, ready to help Dwyane Wade contend today. Phoenix gets what it has wanted -- cap space (Marion's deal ends this summer) and a cheap, young stud. But what exactly is Memphis doing here?

Memphis would be swapping Gay for Beasley. I understand that Rudy's had a down year -- his numbers are almost universally lower. Folks attribute this to the presence of a new Alpha, O.J. Mayo. Sure, I buy it. But Gay also clashed with deposed Marc Iavaroni, and the Grizzlies have been a complete model of uncontinuity at the point guard and in the frontcourt.

Gay wowed everyone as a 21-year-old star in the making last season. Beasley has been OK, but a bit of a disappointment. He just turned 20, and has picked up the NBA game as we've moved along 2008-09. He should be good, a solid starting power forward for years to come.

Gay will be good, and possibly great. Mayo will also likely meet those hopes. Having two stellar wing players is like magic in today's NBA, especially if one (Gay) is a strong defender. Maybe Beasley turns into something great, better than Gay and more valuable. (For what it's worth, Amare was a better rebounder and more efficient scorer at age 20 than Beasley has been. And Amare had Stephon Marbury providing the bounce passes.)

Apparently, Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has been doing the lifting from Memphis' end. As mentioned Thursday, this is not likely to be good news for Grizzlies fans. And then there's this twist: Gay is eligible for a contract extension this summer, one which would go into effect in 2010-11. Beasley won't be eligible for an extension for 2-1/2 years, and won't get paid that big second contract until 2012-13. Since before the Pau Gasol deal, Heisley has been said to desire the smallest long-term obligation possible, in order to have a mostly clean slate as he tries to sell the team. Beasley represents a smaller long-term committment at this point, assuming the Grizz wouldn't be so ridiculous as to let Gay walk.

So on its face, two of the three teams in this deal would be executing it solely for the reason of cash savings. Good times.

I asked my FanHouse brothers to weigh in, lest I'm looking at this in a short-sighted fashion. (Note that these opinions came completely independent of my analysis -- these guys aren't just agreeing with my premise. All three of us came up with the same premise.)

Matt Moore: I think trading Gay for Beasley is insane, and I'm big on Beasley. But if you look at the value Gay has, you can get so much more from them. If this deal goes through, we might as well accept that the Grizzlies have no purpose in the NBA other than to try and make whatever small profit Chris Wallace can make, and they have no legitimate interest in building a team. Beasley fills none of their gaps, improves them not at all, and sacrifices Gay when there is a substantial number of alternatives they could pursue that would help their team.

Nate Jones: It's either do this now or end up locked into a base-year compensation deal that they can't move once they give Gay his inevitable extension. Or don't sign him to an extension and have him pout all next season. Obviously it's not cool to move Gay. But if they don't have the dough, they don't have the dough. This gives them two more years of low salary and a player that will probably be pretty darn good.