That's Amar'e

The Heat would trade most of it's starting five for the All Star forward

Pat Riley's love for Amar'e Stoudemire has gone beyond flirting. It's turned to lust if you believe the trade rumor mill leading up to the NBA wheeling and dealing deadline of Feb. 18.

Yahoo! Sports, among other outlets is reporting that the Miami Heat have the hots for the All Star forward and are willing to give up everything except Dwyane Wade to get him to South Beach.

Here is one of the deals being floated: Wade gets Stoudemire. The Phoenix Suns would get problem child Michael Beasley, emerging Dorrell Wright, Jermaine O'Neal and Quentin Richardson and the Heat's first round pick next year.

That's most of the Heat's starting five. What's left, you ask?

That would basically leave Wade, Stoudemire, the water boy, Bernie the mascot and Riley, who would have to take a pay cut and sign a medical waiver to suit up. He appears to be willing.

”Nobody is pushing harder on this than Riley,” a league source reportedly told Yahoo!

That's a steep price to pay for a sidekick to Flash, especially if you can get Stoudemire without sacrificing your entire roster in free agency at the end of the season.

If the idea is to win now, Stoudemire helps but he doesn't make the Heat a championship contender this year. It would be hard to argue the team would win more than a couple of games with virtually no bench to speak of after trading away all the aforementioned players.

The deal does make sense on some levels.

If Wade agrees that with the Stoudemire signing, he will ink an extension before he end of the season, it's a no brainer. Also, getting a jump on teams like Chicago, Philadelphia or Cleveland who would try to woo Stoudemire in free agency is a shrew move on Riley's part.

But Wade won't likely give up his leverage for a lucrative max deal and that would leave the Heat with just Stoudemire, who might or might not sign an extension of his own with the team.

The moon has clearly hit Riley's eye like a big pizza pie, but let's hope it hasn't blinded him.

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