Another week of uncertainty facing Suns' Stoudemire

Then there's the other possibility, that whatever weird mating ritual the Suns and Amar'e Stoudemire have had going for months is not nearing an end, but, in fact, is only in the prelims, that they'll be spinning the big prize wheel for another calendar year while the fallout is tracked in the standings.

What fun.

Among the many plotlines involving the glamour names -- Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Marcus Camby -- who could get traded before they flood the free-agent market, the Stoudemire situation is the cloudiest by far. He may get dealt by the end of next week ... or he may get a contract extension and pledge ever-lasting love for Phoenix. Or he may get neither and something very much in between.

Think of the possibilities. The Suns don't deal him by the Feb. 18 deadline, their All-Star power forward doesn't opt out to become a free agent, and then there's still no deal they like in the summer because teams won't want to risk giving up a chunk of the roster for someone who would still potentially be a one-season rental. Then everyone meets back here to go through it all again for the 2011 deadline.

No one wants to consider that cumbersome possibility, hoping for a resolution within days by trade or new contract or, fail that, in the summer with free agency or a trade. But it is a realistic scenario. Among the dozens of realistic scenarios.

What is known is that the Suns plan to offer Stoudemire an extension by the end of the week, before the All-Star Game, and how he responds will go a long way toward determining the next step. If he accepts, he obviously stays and everyone focuses on riding this 31-21 start into the playoffs. If he declines but says the numbers are close enough that the sides should keep talking, negotiations continue while general manager Steve Kerr and other teams also continue to talk. If the proposal prompts Stoudemire to storm out of the room, Kerr starts icing his voice box to prepare for the long hours of phone work ahead.

For now, Stoudemire says he is 50-50 about wanting to remain in Phoenix. This would be an ominous shift for someone who was 100 percent in favor of staying at the start of the season, except that everyone considers the source. Stoudemire made eyes at teams in the summer amid reports the Suns were sifting through trade possibilities, only to show up to training camp insisting he was fully committed to a future in the only NBA home he has known. Some close to the situation confirm his clear preference was to stay and that he was hurt more than anything.

Same thing now. Stoudemire is playing well -- 21.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 55.4 percent shooting -- for a team exceeding expectations and has stayed healthy, yet it will have taken management more than half the season to offer an extension. So, 50-50, and that's before knowing whether the Suns are coming with what he considers a credible proposal.

"He wants to stay," assured one person who knows Stoudemire well and has discussed the situation with him.

The consensus among league executives is that he won't be traded. Most teams believe he wants a max contract upon becoming a free agent but does not deserve it. To get him, teams will have to give up a decent package of players, too, when he may only stay a few months. And then there are the health concerns.

"Nobody's going to commit [financially] to him now," one front-office veteran said, "so you're not going to get a lot. And they're going to want a lot."

Said another: "They're working hard to do something with him. It wouldn't surprise me if they did. It also wouldn't surprise me if they don't do anything because they can't get what they want."

The uncertainty was getting to Stoudemire for a while, experienced as he may be with life among trade rumors. It was especially getting to him in Phoenix, where he has played for 7 1/2 season and his status is understandably a major topic of interest. The Suns are having a revival, he is having a comeback season after missing the final 29 games of 2008-09 because of a serious eye injury ...there's going to be bright lights shining in his eyes on this one.

Getting out on the road was a big help. Stoudemire felt a lot better during the four-game trip that concluded Friday, the burden of constant wonder from home fans and media temporarily lifted, and he looked it: 36 points and 11 rebounds at Houston, 25 points and 12 rebounds at New Orleans, 20 points and 17 rebounds at Denver, and 30 points and nine rebounds at Sacramento.

"It's been a weight, definitely," he said. "I purified my mind a little bit there."

At least until this week, when the Suns return home to play the Trail Blazers on Wednesday and Stoudemire goes from there to Dallas and All-Star weekend, where he will get peppered with questions about his future. That's a certainty. One of the few with the Stoudemire-Suns relationship.

Scott Howard-Cooper has covered the NBA since 1988. You can e-mail him here.

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