Amar'e Stoudemire's Staying With Phoenix Suns -- It's Official

By Benjamin Leatherman Thu., Feb. 18 2010 at 1:00 PM

Categories: Sports

Amar'e ain't going anywhere.

The NBA trade deadline passed mere moments ago, and Amar'e Stoudemire is still a member of the Phoenix Suns.

Yeah, we know you've heard rumor after endless rumor this week about how the Phoenix Suns superstar was getting a one-way ticket to either Cleveland or Miami. But such speculation ultimately proved to go nowhere.

According to ESPN, team owner Robert Sarver nixed any possible trade after failing to reach an acceptable deal with the Cavaliers yesterday. It was widely rumored that C-Town was the leading suitor, with the potential deal of sending Amar'e to hang with LeBron James in exchange for Zydrunas Illgauskus, J.J. Hickson, and a first-round draft pick.

Sarver reportedly got cold feet and the Cavs ultimately dealt for Antawn Jamison and Sebastian Telfair in a three-team trade with the Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers.

Phoenix would've then sent Ilgauskas to the Utah Jazz in a trade for power forward Carlos Boozer.

Stoudemire had a brief meeting with Sarver following last night's loss to the Dallas Mavericks where the Suns owner told him he wouldn't be traded. (The front office is supposedly offering him a two-year, $28 million contact extension.)

The Miami Heat then became the front-runners in any potential trading scenario (which would involve the Suns getting Michael Beasley and another first-round pick) but were reportedly gun-shy about losing the forward in order to gain Amar'e. They will likely wait until this summer to seek his services, when Stoudemire will become just one of dozen different marquee-level players in free agency.

So now that trading rumors have ground to a halt, it will be interesting to see if Amar'e continues to light up the stat sheets, or instead revert to his old ways.

UPDATE: ESPN's Chad Ford tweeted within the last hour that Suns general manager Steve Kerr and Sarver will be supping with Stoudemire and his agent later tonight to "calm waters." Sure wish we could be a fly on the wall for that meal.