Latest Trade Chatter: Monday, Feb. 21
- Chris Dempsey, The Denver Post: The Nuggets appear to be closing in on a deal to trade star forward Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks. The teams talked through the weekend and are working out the final details of what would be a blockbuster trade. NBA commissioner David Stern did not want a major trade announced on the day of the All-Star Game. While final details were still being negotiated, the latest trade offer includes New York sending guard Raymond Felton, forwards Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari, centers Timofey Mozgov and Eddy Curry and a first-round draft pick to the Nuggets for Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams and Anthony Carter or Renaldo Balkman, according to NBA sources.
The Carmelo Anthony bidding war continues as the Feb. 24 trading deadline nears. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
- Fred Kerber, New York Post: Carmelo Anthony is expected to inform the Nets by today at the latest whether or not he will accept a trade to New Jersey and sign an extension to play there, sources told The Post last night. The Nets and Nuggets have a deal in place pending Anthony’s willingness to sign an extension. The Knicks and Nuggets also have the basic framework of a deal that has been worked on all weekend.After the face-to-face meeting finally took place Saturday between Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and Anthony, initial reports suggested the Russian billionaire’s team was out of the hunt for the Nuggets star. Anthony was described as “non-committal,” maybe even unimpressed. But other indications say the opposite. Prokhorov himself described the meeting as “fantastic” in an interview yesterday with CNBC and several league sources insisted the Nets are still in the running to land Denver’s star forward. One source claimed an “air of optimism” remained around the Nets.“Don’t bury them yet,” a source involved in the process urged. Another suggested although there might not be anything significant at the moment, that could change.
- Ken Berger, CBSSports: The Knicks have made what was described as their final trade proposal for Carmelo Anthony Sunday, pushing the months-long drama toward its merciful conclusion, CBSSports.com has learned. The Knicks would send three starters — Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, and Raymond Felton — to Denver for Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams and Anthony Carter, sources said Sunday. The Nuggets would get the Knicks’ first-round pick in 2014, while Minnesota would get Eddy Curry’s expiring contract and Anthony Randolph from New York. Curry would then be waived, and the Knicks would send as much as $3 million to Minnesota to pay his freight. The Wolves also would send Corey Brewer to Denver in the proposed deal. Carter must approve the trade and waive his Bird rights for the trade to be approved. Confident that a Friday night meeting between Anthony, his representatives, and a Nets contingent led by Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z did not result in a commitment from Anthony to sign an extension with New Jersey, the Knicks are drawing the line. They are not offering rookie Landry Fields or Russian center Timofey Mozgov, two pieces Denver has asked for at various times in the negotiations, sources said.
- David Aldridge, NBA.com: A league source involved in the discussions said Sunday afternoon that the Nuggets are not necessarily convinced that New York’s offer is its last, although the Knicks have maintained that to the Nuggets in the last two days. Denver, according to another league source, would prefer to have guard Landry Fields and center Timofey Mozgov in the trade instead of Gallinari, but the Knicks have refused to include those two young players, hoping to keep them to surround Anthony and fellow All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire.
- Adrian Wojnarowski, via Twitter: A front office executive with knowledge of ‘Melo talks between Denver-New York says: “Knicks won’t lose this deal over a reserve big man.”
- Marc Berman, New York Post: As he entered Staples Center tonight for the All-Star Game, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov acted as if he’s not out of the game quite yet.”I have a great feeling all the time, every minute of my life,” Prokhorov told The Post as he emerged from a black limo. “I have an express feeling only towards women, but this is a business deal. You have no feeling. Whatever it is, time will tell.”Asked about his meeting with Anthony last night, the Russian owner said, “I had a very good meeting, trying to be friendly and relaxed.”
- Darren Rovell, CNBC: “As you know, my instinct was to stay away and I still think that is [the] right decision,” said [Mikhail] Prokhorov, in a wide-ranging interview which will air on CNBC on Tuesday. “But when the meeting was fixed, [Nets GM] Billy King called me and said, ‘We need you.’ I was convinced and I still think I’m right to stay away, but we have teamwork so sometimes we need to be all together. “I think we made a very good tactical decision to force [the] Knicks to pay as much as they can. So it’s very good, it’s very interesting, it’s very competitive.”Carmelo is in a difficult situation. For him, maybe it’s the most important decision of his life.”
- Mike Lupica, New York Daily News: In a preemptive strike in the event that they get Carmelo Anthony in a trade, the Knicks said in a statement Sunday that Garden chairman Jim Dolan has been working with team president Donnie Walsh and coach Mike D’Antoni, and suggested that former team president Isiah Thomas has had no involvement in the team’s trade talks with the Denver Nuggets. “We want to make it abundantly clear that we have been in constant communication throughout this process and the three of us are in complete agreement with everything that we are currently working on,” said the statement. “Together, we will do what is best for the long-term success of the franchise. In addition, we want to make it clear that no one from outside our organization has been involved in this process in any way. We will have no further comment at this time.”
- Brian T. Smith, Salt Lake Tribune: A source close to Jazz guard Deron Williams said Sunday a report that the two-time All-Star wants to play for the New York Knicks after the 2011-12 season is “crazy.” Williams holds a player option for the 2012-13 campaign with Utah worth $17.9 million. He discussed the media circus about his future with the Jazz on Friday, stating that uncertainty surrounding a Collective Bargaining Agreement that will expire June 30 is the main factor affecting his decision. “Until I see what that’s like, I can’t even think about it,” Williams said. “I don’t want to get into one of those things where everybody’s guessing what I’m going to do. I’d rather just leave it at that. You can guess if you want to, but you’re not going to know from me.”
- Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports: [Isiah] Thomas is driving everything through owner James Dolan — the trade for Carmelo Anthony, the departure of Donnie Walsh and perhaps even the eventual hiring of the New York Knicks’ next president and general manager, multiple league sources told Yahoo! Sports. … Dolan has overruled Walsh in these trade talks and undermined his authority. Walsh has never wanted to give away Raymond Felton for an aging Chauncey Billups and throw Danilo Gallinari into the package, too. This is all Isiah, all his influence. Thomas doesn’t believe Dolan is inclined to give him his job back, but it almost doesn’t matter anymore. In a moment of truth for this Knicks franchise, in the biggest trade they’ve tried to make in years, Isiah Thomas, the coach of Florida International University, has emerged as the de facto GM.
SI.com/NBA is part of the NBA.com Network. The NBA.com Network is part of Turner - SI Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network.
