From today's New York Times:
The Denver Nuggets are lending an open ear to N.B.A. suitors clamoring for Carmelo Anthony, a potentially distressing development for the Knicks in their efforts to land the three-time All-Star. In preliminary conversations, the Nuggets have told the Knicks that they do not possess the assets they are seeking if they decide to trade Anthony, according to a Knicks official. The official did not want to be identified because he was describing private conversations between the teams.
For the moment, the Knicks are left hoping that Anthony remains in Denver through this season, which would allow his contract to expire. If that happens, the Knicks could then pursue him in free agency with cap room that will be created by the departure of Eddy Curry.
That possibility would allow the Knicks to sign Anthony while retaining several key players: Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Amar’e Stoudemire.
The Knicks can also hope that Anthony declines to sign an extension with any team to which he is traded. That, too, would allow him to become a free agent next summer and put the Knicks back in the mix.
But if Anthony is traded to another team and that team persuades him to sign an extension, the Knicks will be out of luck.
And in a twist that will make the Knicks and their fans even more frustrated, the Houston Rockets are one of the teams aggressively pursuing Anthony. The Rockets are doing it in part by offering at least one of the draft picks they acquired from the Knicks last February when, in a three-way trade that also involved the Sacramento Kings, the Knicks cleared Jared Jeffries’s salary off this year’s payroll and landed Tracy McGrady’s expiring contract.
The Rockets obtained the right to swap first-round picks with the Knicks in 2011 in the deal, which allows them to offer whichever pick is better to the Nuggets.
They can also offer the Nuggets the Knicks’ 2012 first-round choice, which they also obtained in the trade.
The picks give Houston flexibility in trade talks with Denver that the Knicks do not have. N.B.A. rules prohibit a team from trading first-round picks in consecutive years. So with their 2012 pick gone, the Knicks cannot trade their 2013 first-round pick as part of any deal for Anthony. That could be one reason Denver may be uninterested in what they can offer.
Denver is believed to be seeking a combination of draft picks, expiring contracts and young players with low salaries, according to ESPN.
The Nets have emerged as a front-runner if there is an Anthony trade, according to ESPN, which said they would be willing to trade Derrick Favors, the third pick in the June draft, a future first-round pick and the expiring contracts of Troy Murphy and Kris Humphries.
Houston, meanwhile, is prepared to offer a package centered on the shooting guard Kevin Martin and the Knicks’ draft picks, according to an N.B.A. executive who has had discussions with the Nuggets.
That executive, who does not work for the Knicks, said Anthony would prefer to go to New York, suggesting he might refuse to sign an extension with other teams. But the executive also said the Nets could be intriguing to Anthony because they are headed to Brooklyn.
The same executive said the Chicago Bulls had dropped out of the running for Anthony because they refused to include center Joakim Noah in a proposal.
I wish we could have a do-over on the Fishlips trade. Shyte be coming back to bite us in the ass?
9/20/2010 7:22 PM
