Ka-boom! Someone snuck into US Airways Center in Phoenix with many sticks of dynamite last night and decided it was time to detonate a franchise that began its downward spiral the night Robert Horry hip-checked Steve Nash two years ago. (One could argue, though, that the Suns became rudderless when Colangelo left his GM post in 2006.) Seldom-right Peter Vecsey of the NY Post is reporting that the Suns are dealing LeAndro Barbosa and Amare Stoudemire to the Rockets for T-Mac and two other guys.

Normally, we’d scoff as such an insane report – the Rockets, under the stewardship of GM Daryl Morey, seem to covet players with a high basketball IQ. Also, stats seem to factor into every move. Barbosa and Stoudemire defy that logic. Barbosa, a scoring machine, has a shot selection that could only be described as poor. Stoudemire has an aversion to rebounding. And of course, there’s the little matter of Houston already having a skilled PF – Luis Scola.

But Morey has admitted that he’s had a slew of offers for T-Mac and his expiring contract, and if the Rockets can get to the 2nd round and push the eventual champs to seven games without T-Mac … how much value does the guy have? Adding Brooks and Landry to the deal are brilliant – Brooks had a couple nice games against the Lakers (sell high!), and Landry, as effective as he is, is not a 30-min, 20-point a night guy like Amare.

And despite the potential logjam up front, Yao hasn’t played a full season since 2004; his minutes probably could be reduced to prevent wear and tear on that 7-foot-6, 300-pound frame.

Assuming the deal gets done and the Rockets pass on Artest, here’s what they could look like next year:
PG – Lowry, SG – Barbosa, SF – Battier, PF – Scola – C Yao. Bench: Amare, Hayes, maybe Wafer. They’ll need some backcourt depth, and Lowry’s still young (23), but they’ll be much better offensively than last season.