With Amare Stoudemire back on the shelf, Steve Nash isn't sure that the power forward is needed.

?I think the later it goes, the more we should stick to this team,? Nash said. ?For a guy to not really play all that time and then get thrown into the playoffs? You?re asking a lot of a young man.

?If (Stoudemire were) a 10-year vet ? like a Chris Webber for example, a guy who knows the league, sees the floor and knows how to play without his jumping ability ? it?s a different story. But Amar? is a young guy, he has his whole career ahead of him ? you?ve got to err on the side of caution.?

USA Today, via The Arizona Republic, are reporting that Suns star Amar? Stoudemire returned to Phoenix on Wednesday and will have a magnetic resonance imaging exam performed on both knees Friday to look into any possible issues related to their stiffness and slight swelling in the right knee.

Stoudemire's comeback lasted only three games.

"Amar?'s frustrated," Stoudemire's manager, Rodney Rice, said. "He thought he'd be back to playing. Coming back was a decision to help the team and try to be the old Amar?. It was a little too soon. He needs to get back to extensive rehabbing."

Rice said no harm could have been done to Stoudemire's knees in trying to play the games. A return this season or postseason is still possible.

"Looking at him struggle made it obvious that he wasn't working his way back, and it got to the point that stepping back is the best thing to do," said Rice, noting that the air travel also was becoming a burden to his knees."

In the third episode of RealGM Radio, Aaron Bronsteter and co-host James Gould discuss the Final Four and the miraculous run of the George Mason Patriots.

Bronsteter interviews Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post, the beat reporter for the Patriots and Jim Kleinpeter of the New Orleans Times-Picayune who covers the LSU Tigers.

Bronsteter and Gould talk with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com to discuss which NCAA players are improving their draft stock and talk fantasy hoops with Craig Huffman as the season winds down.

The show also contains discussion about the Phoenix Suns among Bronsteter and Gould and in an interview that Bronsteter conducts with Paul Coro, the Suns beat reporter for the Arizona Republic.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Tim Thomas has struck a raw nerve with Bulls GM John Paxson.

Paxson took exception to recent comments by Thomas saying he could have helped the Bulls win 20 more games this season and advance to the playoffs.

On a morning radio show, Paxson responded by calling Thomas "delusional" and said the ninth-year forward reported to training camp out of shape in October.

Thomas, waived by the Bulls and now with the Suns, made the remark in a published report, and it wasn't the first time he has criticized the Bulls. He spent less than two months with the Bulls before Paxson asked him to stay home until he could be traded or waived.

Paxson didn't back off his comment when he spoke to reporters at the Berto Center after Bulls practice.

"I am not going to apologize for us having a certain standard," Paxson said. "That's what it comes down to. He didn't fit into that standard. He can say whatever he wants. He's entitled to that. But so can I."

"I'm not going to apologize for asking our players to work hard and be in shape and those types of things. It's really as simple as that. If he thinks we would have won 20 more games with him, then I used the right word this morning on the radio."

Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire could miss the rest of the season, Sports Illustrated reported on its Web site.

Stoudemire has been sent back to the sidelines for further rehabilitation work on his left knee, Phoenix Suns coach and general manager Mike D?Antoni said Tuesday.

Stoudemire will not play Tuesday night against the Bucks in Milwaukee and is doubtful  "maybe for three days, maybe for 10 days, maybe for the rest of the season," D'Antoni told the site.

Tim Thomas, sought by the Nets when bought out by Chicago, said he would listen if the Nets call this summer, when he's a free agent. "New Jersey is still an option, he said.

Thomas has played surprisingly well during his time with Phoenix.

Persistent stiffness in both knees has Amare Stoudemire and head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson considering holding him out of tonight's game at Milwaukee.  

"They say you go through it anyway, but I don't want to feed into it," Stoudemire said. "I'm thinking it's supposed to be getting better and better each day, and it's not. It's just the opposite. We'll see how I feel.

"It's pretty tough on both knees right now. I really want to take my time and get back out there. It (the stiffness) is not a feeling that I want to feel."

Steve Nash, the NBA's reigning MVP, was held without a point for the first time this season as the New Jersey Nets crushed the Phoenix Suns 110-72 on Monday.

"I take full responsibility for hurting us tonight," Nash told reporters after the game.

"Give them credit. They were pretty stingy and outstanding defensively."

Suns coach Mike D'Antoni got himself a nice raise, from $3 million to $4 million per year, when he recently assumed GM duties.

No word on what TNT analyst Steve Kerr got from Suns owner Robert Sarver. For the last year and a half, Sarver has been secretly getting his second opinions on the team's basketball moves from Kerr, who introduced Sarver to David Stern when the Phoenix businessman made it known he wanted to buy an NBA franchise

Amare Stoudemire had a message for the Western Conference on Thursday night.

"Amare Stoudemire's back," he said after scoring 20 points and grabbing nine rebounds in 19 minutes to spark the Phoenix Suns to a 125-108 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Stoudemire, who missed the Suns' first 66 games after undergoing surgery on his left knee Oct. 11, was 7-of-14 from the floor. His fired-up teammates responded by scoring 76 first-half points, most in the NBA this season.

"This is a great start," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I'm pretty jacked up."