Neo
Red Tape Sorter
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cheapseats/articles/0914p2main0914.html
Stoudemire eyeing life in LA?
Bob Young
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 14, 2005 12:00 AM
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That shudder some die-hard Suns fans felt creeping down their spine wasn't from any change of weather.
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[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]However, it might be the chilling effect of some comments that Amaré Stoudemire made to a reporter from SI.com that found its way to The Heat Index Operations Center.
The story is all about Stoudemire going to the West Coast to work with some video game programmers, but goes into some detail about Stoudemire's affection for Los Angeles and implies that the Lakers might want to make a run at him.
"I'm a businessman," Stoudemire told SI.com. "I'm going to listen, but I already know what they got to say, 'Amaré, we want to give you the max.' "
Stoudemire also was asked about the possibility of making more cash from endorsements in Los Angeles, and agreed that he could, but insisted he's happy in Phoenix.
So, what to make of it?
We don't doubt the Lakers and others would love to make a run at the young Suns star, but we're not losing much sleep about all of this right now.
The SI.com story points out that the Lakers are clearing cap space for the 2007 off-season. Unless we're getting bad information, that isn't going to help them with Stoudemire.
All indications are that Stoudemire will sign a contract extension any day now. There may be some haggling over fine print, but the bottom line is, he cannot afford the risk in not signing it.
The new deal would kick in after next season, so Stoudemire isn't going to be available in 2007.
Now, that doesn't mean he won't have some sort of an early termination clause in his deal, but that's at least three years into it.
If there is such a clause, then there's something to get nervous about if the Suns don't have some talent around Stoudemire when that day comes.
Meanwhile, if you want something to wring your hands about, consider that the team's veteran players were supposed to start taking part in informal workouts after the Labor Day weekend.
Only Steve Nash showed up.
As of Tuesday, those workouts still hadn't begun for the veteran players.
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