The February 19th trade deadline approaches and players in other cities find themselves distracted and thinking about the possibilities of moving. Some players can’t help but be a bit distracted about changing their address to Miami, changing their cell phone numbers to the 305 area code. Rather, more like the 786 area code. So who are the players?

Sacramento: Brad Miller

There was once a rumor out there that the Kings were considering moving Brad Miller to Miami for Shawn Marion – but they wanted the Heat to take on the contract of Kenny Thomas. This doesn’t look like a real possibility and in fact, the Spurs are considering making a deal for either Miller of John Salmons, but internally are trying to figure out who helps their big three (Duncan, Parker, Ginobili) more. There is talk about bringing Robert Horry out of retirement in the “Keith Van Horn” move of this season, sending him to the Kings to make a deal work.

Phoenix: Amare Stoudemire

This seems to be a far-fetched idea, but the Bulls and Miami are among the top teams seeking to make a deal for the Suns young PF. Amare is from south Florida, so a return would probably be welcomed. Not to mention, he would give the Heat the 2nd trade in a row where the Suns would send a player to Miami, which brings us to who would the Heat deal. There was a rumor that the Suns wanted Marion back and Beasley, but the Heat said no. There doesn’t seem to be a realistic option at this point without starting with Marion’s contract, which makes me suspect that a third team would be needed. The Bulls just may be the front runner in a possible trade with Phoenix, however, as they have young talent they can deal to Phoenix without having to work out a complicated deal with a third team. The other downside for the Heat in this scenario would be Stoudemire’s contract: he has a player option for the 2010-2011 season which he most likely would exercise as it guarantees him 17.6M. This means the Heat would be more limited in the 2010 market and that is something Riley is not likely to budge on.

Toronto: Jermaine O’neal

This could be an almost straight up deal for Marion except Marion’s 17M contract is about 4-5 M short of O’neal’s current contract. This could easily be overcome as the Heat could toss in Marcus Bank’s contract and he is a quality player that the Raptors could make use of. Yet both teams have little incentive to make a deal as their contracts will come off the books by 2010. For Toronto, they would get a dynamic player without any real health concerns while the Heat get a PF that would help give them more depth in their front court, but serious health concerns may plague a possible deal. To that end, the Heat have been diligent in doing their homework, openly scouting O’neal at games and looking over his medical records. Perhaps a three way deal with Phoenix could see all partners satisfied and help the Heat land Stoudemire. Then again, a deal for O’neal does make sense as he could potential give the Heat the scoring in the post they need as well as interior defense. O’neal also would give the Heat a two year window, with Wade, to get things done and his contract will come off right at the end of the 2010 season – just in time to look at that free agent market. The Heat, however, would have very little flexibility in signing players to shore up the roster during that time span.

The Heat are clearly focused on getting more rebounding and a big man at PF whose game can complement Wade’s. The trick is, Riley will want to keep the salary cap cleared for the 2010 market but at the same time, make this team as competitive as possible to keep Wade hungry and focused on winning. If the Heat have a season like last year, Wade will be out of here by 2010 no matter how much money they throw at him.