A flurry of trade rumors have surfaced recently with the deadline now just less than two weeks away.  That being said, let’s take a look at some of the newer and more credible rumors and what they may mean to your fantasy team.

Amar’e Stoudemire
Oh boy, where do we start here?  He’s rumored to be going anywhere from New York to Detroit to Toronto to Portland to Chicago.  Various outlets have reported GM Steve Kerr’s willingness to deal anyone on the team not born in Canada.  Besides STAT, Shaquille O’Neal is also rumored to be on the block (along with the whole team), but chances are even his All-Star season can’t make up for the contract he’s carrying around.  While possible, that seems a little less likely.

The Fig Cap: What jersey will he be wearing on Opening Day?

As far as New York and Toronto go, both of those franchise carry ex-Suns baggage in coach Mike D’Antoni and GM Bryan Colangelo.  I’m sure Amar’e would absolutely love to play for Coach Mike again, but I’m not all too sure how willing Kerr is to negotiate with the Knicks.  Same goes for Toronto.

One rumor that seems to carry some weight is Portland.  Of course, it’s all hearsay and speculation, but it’s been reported that Kerr wants back draft picks, a young player, and possibly an expiring contract.  Well guess what boys and girls?  Portland is swimming in those assets.  Some rumors have called for a deal involving LaMarcus Aldridge and some for Travis Outlaw and Jerryd Bayless.  And they all include draft picks and Raef LaFrentz and his lovely expiring contract.  Marc Stein of ESPN.com says the Suns will only move Amar’e if they get assets similar to this, and this may be the best deal the Suns can pull.

Also rumored by a few sources is Chicago, possibly involving any combination of Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, and Thabo Sefolosha.

Regardless of where he may end up, let’s assume for a second he does indeed get traded.  Let’s also assume the Suns can’t get a stud back (like Aldridge).  Let’s assume they get back a young forward and a bench-riding expiring contract with some picks.  Conventional wisdom (again, not knowing who they’d get back) would pull Matt Barnes back in the starting lineup.  The fantasy implications are rather small actually.  Barnes may get an uptick in minutes and production, and Jason Richardson would likely become the focal point of the offense.  As for Shaq, he may experience the Pau Gasol effect (who is going nuts since Andrew Bynum went down) or, as the Suns become a much, much smaller team, he may become stifled in the lane and his numbers could go down.  It’s tough to say at this point, but Barnes may be worth grabbing right now.

Shawn Marion
Another rumor with all kinds of wild ideas flying around here.  It’s actually somewhat surprising that the Heat have seemed to draw so much attention to Marion, who could bolt after a team deals a lot for him.

Stein reported in the same article that there are possibilities for Marion to go to Toronto for Jermaine O’Neal, Sacramento for Brad Miller, or New Orleans for Tyson Chandler.  Wow, let that digest. 

Apparently Miami has every possibility to make the Toronto deal happen, but the fact that they haven’t already makes me feel like they have almost interest in O’Neal.  That was widely reported as a done deal weeks ago, but obviously wasn’t the case, which isn’t a good sign for that rumor.

As for Sacramento, that seems very plausible.  The Kings said Wednesday they are willing to cut anyone loose besides Kevin Martin.  Miller would be a nice return for Marion after all.  But New Orleans is where it gets pretty interesting.  Apparently this deal has been tossed around a lot recently throughout the league.

But ignoring the real-life hoops implications of all this, one fact still remains: if any of these deals happen, Miami will get a big back in return for Marion.  Obviously Marion’s value will vary depending on where he goes, but how does a big fit in Miami?  Probably pretty well.  New Orleans may be inclined to do this deal with Chris Paul out, and with the season Chandler is having, I can’t imagine him having even worse numbers in Miami.  The question though is, if you can’t flourish next to CP3, where can you flourish?

Miller would likely benefit as well.  He’s currently injured anyway and makes a great buy-low candidate.  The Kings are awful, and he has no motivation to do much there, which may change with a scenery change.  He’d be worth a gamble if you can get him on the cheap.  As far as O’Neal… ugh.  You’d have to think he’d be better off not next to Chris Bosh.  He’d be a big risk to trade for right now, but it does look like the Raptors are doing all they can to deal him.

Raef LaFrentz
Every GM’s favorite contract will most likely be moved.  Where, nobody really knows.  He could go to Phoenix, as stated above, or he could go to Chicago for any of the pieces mentioned above.  There’s a strange little love-triangle seemingly going on between those three teams, so a lot of deals are possible.

But what does it really mean?  LaFrentz is completely irrelevant in fantasy, but what Portland gets back could be big.  They could realistically get back Amar’e, or any of the Chicago bigs.  As for Hughes, he doesn’t seem all too possible with the glut of good guards in Portland.

If Amar’e goes to Portland, it probably hurts Brandon Roy.  I’d imagine they’d give Amar’e plenty of touches to keep him happy, especially if they do this deal with intentions of signing him in 2010.  While the Blazers have lots of SF/PF type players, they lack a true big presence besides Greg Oden.  Amar’e could easily turn into the focal point of that offense, at the expense of Roy.

Overview
I think it’s fairly possible we see Amar’e traded, and very soon.  Phoenix is quickly growing sick of him, and while I personally don’t think the Suns’ problems completely have to do with STAT, he’s the one taking the blame.  The team is about to implode, and one of the bigs is going to be shrapnel.

Jermaine O’Neal seems to be gone.  Somewhere.  The fact that Toronto hasn’t found a suitor shows how much other teams want him, but it does appear very clear they want him gone.  I fully expect him to be traded sometime soon.

LaFrentz is almost certain to be dealt, but for what is the question.  Portland could elect to make a very small deal, like with Chicago, or use him in an Amar’e deal.

Keep in mind that most everything here is a rumor reported in some local newspaper, so take them with a grain of salt.  It seems likely that some of these rumors have truth behind them, but we won’t know until February 19.  Just keep your eyes glued to the media for when/if a big deal does happen, and be the first one on your league’s waiver wire.