Even though he was jostled around two straight years at the trade deadline, in the end, Amare Stoudemire wanted to stay in Phoenix.

In an interview with Chris Tomasson of FanHouse , Stoudemire said had Phoenix offered up a fully guaranteed max long-term deal, he wouldn't have left for New York.

"Definitely. If they had done that, I would have stayed,'' Stoudemire said in an interview Saturday with FanHouse at the NBA Summer League. "They only gave me three years guaranteed."

According to Tomasson's story, the Suns wanted to guarantee Stoudemire's final two seasons only if he reached certain incentives regarding minutes played. But Stoudemire didn't want to have to think about not getting the offer he wanted from the Suns. Who could blame him? Stoudemire is a guy that's battled some serious injuries including a major knee issue and two eyes pokes that resulted in a large number of games missed.

So on one hand, the Suns had reason for concern. And on the other, Stoudemire had a fully guaranteed deal from New York and as a guy that's had some bad luck with injuries, it was obviously smarter to go the Knick route. At least in terms of guaranteed money, that is.

Now whether or not Stoudemire actually deserved that max deal in the first place is a whole other story.

playa2 wrote:Almost like if a guy landed this beautiful girl, but then she says that she would've gone with a different guy if he asked her out, on one hand the guy with her feels lucky, but not as good as before.

You can spend your time focusing on the ex team but the rest of us will enjoy Amare on the Knicks.

He seems real excited about playing here. I'm really excited to have him.

Bonn1997 wrote:

Allanfan20 wrote:He's being honest. Does it surprise you that he would have stayed in Phoenix? It was either NY or Phoenix no matter what, all the way.

How do you know it wasn't just "whoever offers me 5 years!"

Simple, no one else was WILLING to offer him a guaranteed 5 yr @ max.

GustavBahler wrote:If say the timberwolves offered the same deal I'm guessing that he would pick
New York over guardsRus, at least I would hope he would.

Bonn1997 wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:If say the timberwolves offered the same deal I'm guessing that he would pick
New York over guardsRus, at least I would hope he would.

But if every team offered a 5th year, where would he have ranked the Knicks? The answer to that question--which we don't know--tells you how much he truthfully wanted to be here.

Good point, its hard to tell what he would do but I don't believe we should fault him for
trying to get paid with his medical history. This is probably the last big deal he is ever
going get and he probably isn't going to make this kind of money when his career is over
somewhere in his 30s.

He will be living off this money for the rest of his life (if he's smart)
and as long as he plays hard, is a good teammate, and is a good influence on the younger
players, no harm no foul as far as I'm concerned.

arkrud wrote:I somebody (like playa) think that players are choosing teams because of love to the city/fans they are delusional.
Players go where the money are and where the future is guaranteed. Are they not normal people?
Then they can talk about love if they want to attract gullible fans to believe in this nonsense.

It's a combination of money n location. Amar'e wasn't gonna take the money if it meant going to a team like Minny. I think he would've stayed in PHX. We stepped up to make it more attractive. Guaranteed money, great city and good talent. He'll make even more from endorsements here as well.