I’ve spent a decent amount of time in the past seven months playing NBA 2K9. Yes, 2K10 is better in just about every way, but A) it has Kobe on the cover and B) it hasn’t come down enough in price yet to justify a one-year upgrade. Playing a virtual GM in the Association mode has its perks, because every other general manager in the league has Chris Wallace/Kevin McHale-type moments that can be exploited.

For example, landing Chris Bosh in place of Amare Stoudemire was as easy as a three-team deal between the Suns, Thunder and Raptors. Goodbye, Jason Richardson, Amare and a disgruntled-about-his-playing-time Leandro Barbosa. Hello, Thabo Sefolosha, Jeff Green, Bosh and a mid-level trade exception. Yes, trading away both SGs would have been a bit reckless if fellow Checkpoint writer Shaun El-Ters wasn’t a created player in the game — and since Shaun is just 6′4″ in the game, and wishes he were that tall in real life, the 2 was a more natural fit for him.

Of course, real-life NBA isn’t that easy. Multiple team trades are a pain to put together, and one team always hedges because they’re afraid of getting screwed. Draft picks have an actual value, as opposed to the generic, nameless wonders 2K9 puts together for subsequent years in the franchise mode. You can’t trick real GMs into thinking that Javaris Crittendon is an important part of a blockbuster dea– wait.

Part of this ties into what 5MM touched on last time: the metric boatload of fans out there who masquerade as general managers. Yes, the ESPN trade machine is a fun device to play with, and between it’s outline of each player’s salary and explanation of the various trade restrictions out there, it can even be informative. That doesn’t mean that putting together a trade suddenly makes it plausible, unique or likely. Such is the case with Amare, who has plenty of suitors but not so many strong offers.

The real-world deals on the table for the Suns right now include some versions of the following:

76ers: G/F Andre Igoudala AND C Samuel Dalembert OR F Elton Brand AND/OR F Marreese Speights AND/OR F/C Chris Wilcox AND/OR a first-round pick.

Heat: F Michael Beasley AND F/C Jermaine O’Neal’s expiring corpse contract AND/OR F Dorell Wright AND/OR G/F Quentin Richardson’s expiring contract AND/OR one of Miami’s two first-round picks.

Cavs: F J.J. Hickson AND C Zydrunas Ilgauskas AND some kind of draft pick or mid-level exception.

Say what you will about Amare, but do any of these deals really seem like gems? Yes, Phoenix has little to no leverage here because of Amare’s team option over the summer and their constant off-and-on shopping of Stoudemire for the past two years or so. Yes, teams are right to question Amare’s health (even if his injuries have generally been freakish) and commitment to bringing it for 82+ games a season on both ends of the floor. But you’re hard-pressed to find a 27-year-old as talented or as efficient on the offensive end.

So, you’re the back-seat GM. Beasley’s an intriguing 21-year-old in a number of ways, especially because we don’t know how high his ceiling is (feel free to interpret that any way you want). Igoudala is a borderline all-star who can do a variety of things well, but doesn’t seem like he has much room for improvement. He is what he is. J.J. Hickson looks pretty good — athletic, a good rebounder, finishes well around the rim — but he’s potential starter material, not an all-star. All of the deals include some sort of cap relief (in particular, the Miami deal, with J-Rich tossed in to make the salaries match with Jermaine O’Neal’s behemoth contract, frees up at least $17 million in cap space, enough to legitimately pursue a Chris Bosh or Dirk Nowitzki type in the offseason). Some of them may get Phoenix a first-round pick, which would be nice considering we don’t have our own.

On the flip side, Amare could sign an extension. If it were me, I’d think something in the 4 year, $60 million range would be reasonable, especially considering all the death signs about the new collective bargaining agreement. Amare may consider himself worthy of a max contract, but it’s a big risk locking him down for 5-6 years, $100-120 million, a risk the Suns seem hesitant to take (as they should be). And because of Amare’s option, the Suns won’t have that cap space available in the offseason even if he walks, putting them in a tight spot. Best of all, Amare could just opt in and postpone this whole shebang for another year while still making $17 million.

Put yourself in Steve Kerr’s shoes. You already rolled the dice once by dumping Shawn Marion, along with Marcus Banks’ horrendous contract (thanks, Mike D’Antoni!), for Shaq. It backfired, even though O’Neal played well here. It probably wouldn’t have worked out either way, judging by Matrix’s numbers since he’s been gone (about 14 ppg and 6 rpg for a guy who’s averaged 17 and 9 in his career). But you said it was your make-or-break deal, that you’d either be an idiot or a genius. The jury’s still out. But this deal is even more important. This isn’t about trying to acquire the final piece to a championship team; this is about the next half decade of Suns basketball.

So sit in that comfy chair and put together fun deals in the trade machine. Just don’t make the mistake of thinking that a real GM’s job is any easier because of it.