Memphis GM Gerald Wallace took a lot of heat for trading Pau Gasol to the Lakers. But if we’ve learned anything in the past few days, it’s that Wallace was simply a man ahead of his time.

On Tuesday, we learned that the Bucks agreed to trade Richard Jefferson to the Spurs for Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas and Amir Johnson. (Fabricio Oberto was part of the original deal, but San Antonio sent him to Detroit for Johnson, who was then sent to Milwaukee.)

Regular readers know I’m a Bucks fan, and I spent the last couple of days grumbling on the Sports Bubbler message boards about how we didn’t get anything in return for Jefferson, who is still a pretty good player. When Wallace traded away Gasol, at least he got Javaris Crittenton (who was considered a prospect with upside at the time) and Pau’s brother, Marc, who turned out to be a productive center for the Grizzlies.

Then I wake up today to see that the Cavs and Suns have agreed to go through with that long-rumored trade that will send Shaq to Cleveland for salary cap relief. Who do the Suns get in return? A retiree (Ben Wallace), a bench player with a partially guaranteed contract (Sasha Pavlovic), some cash and a second round pick.

This is the going rate for a Third Team All-NBA center these days.

We knew that this summer had the potential to be a rough one for free agents, but it’s a little surprising to see that good players like O’Neal and Jefferson could be had for virtually nothing. Bucks owner Herb Kohl and Suns owner Robert Sarver realize that their clubs aren’t legitimate contenders, so they don’t see the point in paying the luxury tax just for the privilege of being knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. What kind of an effect these moves have on season ticket purchases remains to be seen.

The bottom line is that if a team is willing to spend, there has never been a better time to acquire talent. You’re not going to get someone like Caron Butler, who plays for a (pretend) contender and has a reasonable contract, but you can get Jefferson, who is overpaid and is on a mediocre team that is up against the luxury tax. And the older the player, the more likely he’s available. Teams aren’t going to give up good players that are in their early- or mid-twenties because the plan is to rebuild before they’re over the hill.

So who might be on the move for a bag of peanuts and some salary cap flexibility? How about Tracy McGrady, Baron Davis, Chris Kaman, Marcus Camby, Vince Carter, Tyson Chandler, Amare Stoudemire, Jermaine O’Neal, Michael Redd, Ray Allen or Rip Hamilton?

Truth be told, a team like the Suns isn’t going to give the youngish Stoudemire away for cap flexibility alone. But as the price of a star goes down, the price of superstar goes down as well.

It promises to be an interesting summer.

Chad Ford and Draft Express updated their mocks, so it’s a good time to take another look at the consensus. I also added Rotoworld’s most recent mock to the equation, and added a column (“consensus”) that makes a pick if two or more of the mocks agree on a player.

A few random thoughts…

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Eliminated from the playoffs, it’s time for the Phoenix Suns to look forward to next season. For his part, Steve Nash says that he would like to stay…

After missing the playoffs, Nash could decline an extension if he is unhappy with the offer or the off-season plan. He wants to play four more seasons.

“My first priority is to sit down and listen to Steve and (Suns Managing Partner) Robert (Sarver) and hear what their wish is and what their plan is for the team,” Nash said. “I can be a part of us revamping here.

“I’m under the impression they want to talk an extension, and I do, too. Hopefully we can find ourselves in a position where we can revamp and be back in the playoffs and hopefully be a contender. Hopefully I’ll be a part of the plan.”

Nash, 35, still is a special offensive player. If he maintains his fifth consecutive 50 percent field-goal shooting season in the final two games, Nash would become the first player in NBA history to record three seasons in which he shot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line. Nash went from averaging 13.8 points under Porter to 19.1 once interim Alvin Gentry restored the team’s Nash-and-dash style. Nash’s assist-to-turnover ratio went from 2.6 -to 1 to 3.7 -to 1.

I have been critical of the Suns’ brass — namely Steve Kerr — all season long.

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You can blame it on the Grizzlies.

Ever since they traded Pau Gasol to the Lakers for a bag of peanuts and some slightly used underwear, NBA teams have become more and more fickle about pulling the proverbial trigger. With the state of the economy, and some owners desperately trying to cut payroll before the cap and luxury tax thresholds decline, it’s a buyer’s market out there. And those buyers are looking for Gasol-type deals. On the flip side, Chris Wallace took all kinds of grief over that trade and general managers around the league don’t want to follow in his footsteps.

After two or three weeks of covering all of this trade chatter, the biggest deal to speak of is the Shawn Marion/Jermaine O’Neal swap and that happened almost a week ago. Sure, guys like Brad Miller, Andres Nocioni, John Salmons, Rafer Alston, Larry Hughes, Tim Thomas, Chris Wilcox and Drew Gooden changed zip codes, but I doubt any fans out there are sporting wood at the idea that one or more of these players is joining their team.

This year’s trade deadline was mostly about teams setting themselves up financially for the next two summers of free agency. Even though there were a number of big names bandied about, the Marion/O’Neal deal is the only semi-blockbuster trade of the season. And, barring some last-minute, late-breaking deal, we have these five teams to blame…

5. San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs were in talks with the Nets about acquiring Vince Carter and also spoke with the Bucks about Richard Jefferson. Either of those players would have been a nice addition, but the Spurs just don’t have the pieces (or the balls) to pull off a trade like that. They were willing to trade for Carter, but they didn’t want to give up Roger Mason or George Hill. So they offer the Nets Bruce Bowen and Fabricio Oberto. Great, the numbers don’t even add up. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t really think that the Spurs should have given up Mason and/or Hill to acquire Carter. They’re arguably the second-best team in the West and their current lineup, if healthy, is likely to give the Lakers fits if the two teams meet in the playoffs with a less-than-100% Andrew Bynum. Plus the Spurs are notoriously conservative when it comes to messing with their chemistry. Jefferson wouldn’t have been a problem in that area but Carter might have been. So the Spurs stand pat. Shocker.

That appears to be the case, at least according to ESPN’s sources.

After the Suns spent several days taking and making phone calls on potential trades for Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O’Neal, NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com that Phoenix — having received a series of underwhelming proposals for Stoudemire — prefers now to leave its core intact for the rest of the season to see if new coach Alvin Gentry can do more with this group than the outgoing Terry Porter.

“I got the impression today that [the Suns] are standing pat,” said one source with knowledge of the team’s thinking.

Said another source close to the situation: “That is very accurate.”

Officials from two other teams told ESPN.com on Monday that the Suns’ willingness to consider offers for Stoudemire has been scaled back considerably from last week, when Stoudemire himself seemed resigned to being sent elsewhere, telling reporters: “I know for sure, wherever I go, we’re going to definitely be playoff contenders.”

At a news conference to announce Gentry’s hiring, [Steve] Kerr stopped short of promising that the Suns would sit out the deadline completely, but did add: “I’d like to keep what we have and go forward and see what we can do,” Kerr said.

Well, well, well…it appears that cooler heads may have prevailed. It could be that the Suns realized that they weren’t going to get equal value for their superstar or they may have decided that he wasn’t the problem after all. The dismissal of Terry Porter would indicate that management places a fair amount of blame for the Suns’ inconsistent play at his feet.

After all this build up, the Suns may very well decide to keep Stoudemire through the end of the season. Salary cap ramifications aside, I think this is the right call.

One scapegoat is out. Could the Suns move the other — Amare Stoudemire — before Thursday’s trade deadline?

Terry Porter was fired as coach of the Phoenix Suns, just four months into his first season with the club and the team barely in playoff contention.

Porter told The Associated Press on Monday morning that Suns general manager Steve Kerr broke the news to him at a Sunday night meeting.

“I’m going to wait a few days to gather my thoughts before I say anything,” Porter said.

Assistant coach Alvin Gentry will replace Porter, although the Suns have not yet made an announcement concerning their coaching situation.

orter was in the first year of a three-year, $6 million deal to replace Mike D’Antoni, who left after four highly successful seasons to coach the New York Knicks.

D’Antoni is a coach who lets his players run and shoot, and maybe play defense once in a while. It was Kerr’s insistence on emphasizing defense that led, in large part, to D’Antoni’s departure. Porter wanted a defense-oriented team in the tough mold of the Detroit Pistons.

It was a bad fit.

I don’t know why you sign a coach to a three-year contract only to fire him halfway through his first season. Either you have faith in the guy or you don’t. If you have enough faith in a coach to give him a contract worth $6 million, then you should have enough patience to let him coach out the year. It’s not like the Suns are 11-40 and out of the playoff race.

But the bottom line is that the Suns never should have let Mike D’Antoni go. This is just another in a long line of suspect decisions by the Suns’ management.

If this story is true, Amare Stoudemire could be heading to the Pacific Northwest before the Nov. 19 trade deadline.

The Portland Trail Blazers have made a strong play for Amare Stoudemire, discussing a package that includes LaMarcus Aldridge, Jerryd Bayless, and Raef LeFrentz’s $12.7 million expiring contract, a person with direct knowledge of the talks told CBSSports.com Tuesday.

One factor complicating matters, according to a team executive who has spoken with the Suns, is an apparent difference of opinion between Kerr and managing partner Robert Sarver as far as what Phoenix hopes to get back in a Stoudemire trade. Steve Nash, Grant Hill, and Leandro Barbosa are viewed as untouchable in any trade talks with the Suns. It is not known if any of those players is the source of disagreement between Kerr and Sarver.

I’m surprised that the Blazers are willing to give up Aldridge, but if that’s the case and Steve Kerr insists on trading Stoudemire, then he should jump on this deal. Aldridge is currently #13 amongst power forwards in PER (18.98), while Stoudemire is #11 (20.14). This tells me that Aldridge is every bit the stat guy that Amare is, and he’s probably a better defender too. The Suns would get a burgeoning All-Star talent, a young prospect in Bayless and salary cap relief in the form of Raef LaFrentz’s expiring contract.

Amare Stoudemire has never been shy about voicing his opinion, and nothing has changed now that he’s on the trading block.

Amare Stoudemire knows he’s on the trading block, and he knows we know. While most athletes would dodge questions about rumors with trite cliches, Stoudemire was refreshingly honest following Sunday’s win in Detroit.

“I know about the rumors. I know what teams are looking. I know what teams want me,” Stoudemire said. “I pretty much know everything — I know what’s going on. I’m definitely in the loop on what’s happening.”

For outside observers, what’s happening is very confusing. The Suns have clearly taken a step back, but if shaking up the roster is the solution as opposed to riding things out, shouldn’t moving the 26-year-old franchise cornerstone be the absolute last resort?

You’d think so, but as Stoudemire sees it, the Suns are motivated as much by their bottom-line as they are putting the best team on the floor. “I think it’s all about what they want to do and what they’re trying to do financially,” he said. “I think their main focus is their financial intake.”

“I heard Avery Johnson say one time I was a bad locker room guy or whatever,” Stoudemire said. “That stuff’s totally B.S. — we get along so well inside the locker room, we hang out with each other probably more than any team in the league as far as camaraderie, as far as hanging out together. We try to enjoy ourselves.”

As one reporter pointed out, several of the Suns have described Stoudemire as being one of the most social players on the team. “That’s my thing, that’s why I don’t understand what Avery Johnson was saying or Tim Legler on NBA Shootaround when they said I was a bad locker room guy. That’s not me. That’s not me.”

“I take pride in really keeping everybody’s spirits up in the locker room, just being that guy that keeps everybody happy and smiling and having a good time,” he continued. “Shaq [is] that way, as well. So with our personalities, we just enjoy ourselves. And even though we went through a bad losing streak there for a minute earlier in the season, we still stayed together, we still kept our motivation, we still had fun. We knew one day [if] we’d stay together it’d turn around.”

Most players field such questions with cliches or gruff non-answers, so it’s refreshing to see Stoudemire talk about it so honestly. He addressed the concerns over his presence in the locker room and is generally upbeat about all the trade talk. I’d like to see someone ask him about the criticism about his defense, but I think much of that is Phoenix trying to justify trading him in the first place.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — you just don’t trade a 6’10″, 1st Team All-NBA talent who is just entering his prime. It’s highly unlikely that the Suns are going to get equal value — just look at last year’s Pau Gasol trade. They’ll probably get a young star, but not someone that’s on Stoudemire’s level.

The funny thing is that Suns fans have turned on Amare, and with this news out in the open, I think something will happen prior to the Feb. 19 deadline. I think it has to. With this many teams competing for his services, someone will offer the Suns something they want.

If he still hasn’t been traded by Thursday, I’m going to offer up 29 trade scenarios for Amare — one for each team.

ESPN’s Chad Ford said that they are in his chat yesterday.

Jason (Culver City CA) [via mobile]: What are the chances of Amare Stoudemire getting traded before the deadline?

Chad Ford: Last week I said 10 percent. But I think that was low. The more people I talk to in the league, the more I think it’s something in the neighborhood of 30 to 40 percent. Steve Kerr and Robert Sarver are taking a hard look at the team right now. If they decide to blow it up, Stoudemire will be the first to go.

Let’s see, you’re thinking about blowing the team up and your first move is to trade away your 26 year-old All-Pro forward/center? This is nonsensical. Why not trade away Shaq, who is 36 and due to make $20 million next season? Or Steve Nash, who is 34 and has just one more year on his contract?

Why would you trade away your best player, especially when he’s only 26?

I criticized Steve Kerr’s decision to break up that Suns team that was a couple of bench-clearing suspensions away from upending the eventual-champion Spurs in the 2007 playoffs. His first move as GM was to trade Rudy Fernandez to the Blazers for cash considerations. Then there was the Marion-Shaq trade, which forced Mike D’Antoni out, because he doesn’t know how to coach a slow-it-down team. Seemingly every move Kerr makes backfires.

The Suns are now 26-20, they’ve lost seven of their last 11 games and are hanging on to the #8 seed in the West. They are a shell of that exciting team that we saw in those playoffs two years ago and if Carlos Boozer can come back strong for the Jazz, Phoenix is in serious danger of missing the postseason altogether.

Now they’re thinking about trading away their best player, who is only 26 and entering the prime of his career.

That’s just great.

Steve Kerr took over as GM of the Suns in the summer of 2007 and his first move was to trade the rights to Rudy Fernandez to the Blazers for cash considerations. Obviously, with Fernandez on the short list of serious Rookie of the Year contenders, this was a bad, bad move. He came out of that draft with University of Wisconsin standout Alando Tucker, who has only played 48 total minutes in a season and change.

He then traded Kurt Thomas and two future first round picks to the Seattle Supersonics in a straight salary dump. The next move was his biggest — he traded Shawn Marion to the Heat for Shaquille O’Neal.

At the time, I thought it was a mistake to break up that Suns team that was a couple of bench-clearing infractions away from upending the Spurs in the 2007 playoffs. No matter how much of a distraction Shawn Marion was at the time — and as I remember, the Matrix was a pretty good citizen for most of 2007 — he was essential to the success of Mike D’Antoni’s up-tempo attack.

Those Suns were fun to watch and, more importantly, they were damn good. They made the Western Conference Finals in 2006 and lost to the eventual champs in the aforementioned 2007 playoffs. Who’s to say that one more season wouldn’t have made the difference?

Steve Kerr, that’s who.

Kerr is well-liked and well-respected. I always enjoyed listening to his color commentary and found him to be quite knowledgeable. But in one and a half seasons running the Suns, I am not impressed with his skills as a GM. Sure, there’s a chance that Shaq finds the Fountain of Youth and, as Roland Lazenby of HoopsHype writes, this team will be suddenly able to put it all together in time for a serious playoff run, but right now they look like a mediocre team with a bunch of good players whose best years are far behind them.

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine this Suns team, still led by Mike D’Antoni, with Marion instead of O’Neal, and Rudy Fernandez filling the wing. Is that better or worse than what we’re watching now?