Roundtable: Trade pressure builds

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Amar'e Stoudemire could help the Cavs both this season and in the future with LeBron James' free agency. Chris Graythen/Getty Images

SI.com's NBA writers analyze the latest news and address hot topics from around the league each week. (All stats and records are through Feb. 15.)

1. The trade deadline is Thursday, and we've already seen a couple of deals. Who is under the most pressure to make something happen?

Ian Thomsen: The Cavs have been pursuing Amar'e Stoudemire, which will take pressure off them both this season and next summer. Miami would like to acquire Stoudemire, not only for his help this season but also to persuade Dwyane Wade to stay. The Rockets very much want to move Tracy McGrady for talent in return, with the Knicks emerging as a likely partner. Pressure is also felt by the Knicks and Bulls to create cap space, and by the Celtics to acquire a No. 3 guard to back up Rajon Rondo at the point. All that said, no team is under more pressure than the Cavs.

Frank Hughes: Phoenix. With Robert Sarver the most vocal owner at the labor negotiating session last Friday, it is pretty obvious that the Suns are not going to pay Stoudemire the type of money he is anticipating. The Suns need to get something in return for him since they are not bringing him back. And don't let Stoudemire fool you; he is not going to exercise his one-year option next season -- not after seeing the proceedings with the owners at All-Star weekend.

Jack McCallum: I would've said Dallas before it made a move. And I don't put Cleveland in the "under pressure" category (see question No. 3) even if the Cavs (who seem to be the most active top team) do end up pulling off a big deal. So that leaves us with teams that thought they had a chance to win the championship but are clearly falling short. Most clearly in that category are the Celtics and Spurs. The latter has never popped up much in trade rumors, and Celtics president Danny Ainge has trashed rumors about the possibility of making a major move involving Ray Allen. But I still think the Celtics might do something, and I think their fans expect them to do something.

Chris Mannix: Boston, easily. The Celtics are looking around at a conference with two teams (Cleveland, once it swings a deal for either Stoudemire or Antawn Jamison, and Atlanta) that will beat them in the playoffs and another (Orlando) that already has. As painful as it might be to deal Allen (and for Ainge, it would be), if Sacramento frees up Kevin Martin and tosses in Andres Nocioni, Ainge would be foolish not to take it. The Celtics' lack of real assets makes acquiring Chicago guard Kirk Hinrich more of a pipe dream each passing day, so moving Allen is Boston's best chance of keeping the championship window open a little while longer.

2. The Raptors, who are 18-6 since an 11-17 start, appear set to keep potential free agent Chris Bosh instead of dealing him at the deadline. What do you make of their decision?

Thomsen: Why move him now? Bosh hasn't asked to be traded and he hasn't told the Raptors he'll be leaving this summer, so there is no reason (yet) for Toronto to deal its best player. The Raptors have a better chance of retaining Bosh than advertised because they can offer him more money than any other team, and their franchise is clearly built around him as the top player. They give themselves a chance at reaching the second round if they're able to hold on to the No. 5 seed in the East, which could further their hopes of retaining Bosh.

Hughes: It would seem that the Bosh situation is the same as the Stoudemire situation. But for some reason I view them differently, and I think Raptors president Bryan Colangelo should try to hang on to Bosh for now and see how it plays out. Toronto has a favorable second-half schedule, and maybe continuing its winning ways and finding some success in the postseason would be enough to persuade Bosh to stick around. Perhaps that is naive and taking a Pollyanna view.

McCallum: To trade Bosh now would send the worst possible message: OK, we've finally figured out how to play together, so let's trade away our best player! I don't think Bosh has made up his mind about whether he wants to leave or stay (obligatory LeBron James mention: I don't think he has either), but Bosh's Raptors have apparently finally figured out how to become a factor in the East. Colangelo has to roll the dice on Bosh, let these guys play together and try to become a top-four team in the East and hope he stays.

Mannix: It's a risk -- a big risk -- because Bosh isn't about to give his current employers any assurances he is going to re-sign before he tests the free-agent market. But the fact that Toronto rebounded from a putrid start to shove itself into the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff mix effectively tied Colangelo's hands. Still, no exec I have talked to believes Colangelo -- a two-time Executive of the Year -- will allow Bosh to leave for nothing after the season. Should Bosh tell him he's not coming back, the Raptors will work out some kind of sign-and-trade that will give them as much, if not more, than they would get for Bosh at the trade deadline.