Padecky: Stoudemire might not be worth it

<p>Wednesday dawned and set the same way a month of Wednesdays had come and gone. No big man. No point guard. No defense. No Chris Cohan screaming, “I’m mad as hell at Don Nelson and I’m not going to take it anymore!”</p><p>Wednesday came and went, leaving us with no Amare Stoudemire, with no hint of the 6-foot-10 center, one of the top 10 players in the league, arriving from Phoenix with his 21.4-point career scoring average. Of course that didn’t mean it won’t happen. May still. Wednesday was the first day trades could be made. So there is still plenty of time on the shot clock.</p><p>But here’s the rub, one that those salivating for Stoudemire have ignored — and that’s understandable since plodding Joe Barry Carroll of the ‘80s serves as the best recent reference of a quality big man at Golden State. And oh, you can’t imagine the pain it took to write that last sentence.</p><p>If Stoudemire is that good, then why is he trade bait — and at the tender age of 26 to boot? A top 10 NBA player, still at least two years from his prime, should be hoarded like gold bullion. Especially if the guy is an inside force, since there are a lot of guys in the league who can shoot the jumper, like, say, half the players on Golden State’s roster.</p><p>So why Stoudemire? First off, he missed 29 games last season for the Suns. Stoudemire has had a partially torn right iris, surgery to repair a detached retina in his right eye, arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and micro-fracture surgery on his left knee. Micro-fracture surgery effectively ended the careers of Jamal Mashburn, Terrell Brandon and hastened the exit of Penny Hardaway and Allan Houston. Chris Webber, Antonio McDyess and Kenyon Martin were never the same players. It is the basketball equivalent of baseball’s rotator cuff surgery.</p><p>Oh, Stoudemire is not known as a defensive genius and to that add this little pearl: He’s not the world’s best teammate.</p><p>In other words, if Stoudemire comes, he comes with baggage. It may not be Ron Artest’s baggage but it weighs enough to be noticed. It might even give a good team pause but the Warriors don’t have that luxury. They aren’t a good team and, on top of that, the clock is running on Cohan and Nelson.</p><p>Stories, whispers, rumors — call it what you will — continue to build that Cohan is nearing the end of his 14-year reign of mismanagement as Golden State’s owner. The IRS hounds are barking louder, getting closer, read the reports, and Cohan may have to sell just for the simple reason to square his bottom line with the feds.</p><p>A player with a pulled hammy is not as day-to-day as Nelson, 69, with 2,582 NBA games and 30 NBA years under his belt. That Nelson has lasted this long is a surprise in itself, as he remains employed even though he pulls the same tired rabbit out of the hat year after year — the Warriors can run and score all right but not nearly as well as other teams can run and score against them.</p><p>So Nelson and Cohan would like to make a big splash before they leave the NBA if for no other reason that neither man would like to be remembered in his last NBA moments as someone who stumbled and pitched sideways out the exit door. Looking like someone leaving a bar at 1 a.m. after too many drinks is not the dignified profile to make its owner warm and fuzzy.</p><p>This puts Warrior fans back at square one. Say, for sake of discussion, Stoudemire comes to Golden State, agrees to that long-term contract and somehow Phoenix is satisfied to take in return any talented Warrior not named Monta Ellis, Anthony Randolph, Stephen Jackson and rookie Stephen Curry. Say that happens.</p><p>Still, there’s one problem. Where’s the point guard? Ellis and Curry are undersized shooting guards. Nelson does promise one of them will develop into a good point guard. OK. Great. Fabulous. Except for this one little thing.</p><p>Either Ellis or Curry are projects. The Warriors aren’t good enough to gamble on projects, “projects” being the polite euphemism for your-guess-is-as-good-as-mine.</p><p>So in the meantime, in this of all best case scenarios, the Warriors will have more people than ever before casting off the minute they cross mid-court because Stoudemire will be drawing a double-team down low.</p><p>That is, of course, if Stoudemire can see.</p><p>When his eye injuries became acute, Stoudemire pledged to wear goggles to protect his eyes. But it wasn’t long before he took them off. Seems the goggles would fog up from his sweat and Stoudemire’s vision would become blurred.</p><p>So Stoudemire removed his protective eyewear and crossed his fingers, hoping like heck to avoid the errant hand swipe across his face, knowing full well that eventually he would get a swat or two because of the position he played. It was a risk but he had to take it.</p><p>Take a chance. Hold on for dear life. Sounds like Stoudemire and the Warriors are a perfect match.</p><p>For more on North Bay sports go to Bob Padecky’s blog at padecky.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Bob Padecky at 521-5223 or bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com.</p>