NBA Trade Rumors: Carmelo Anthony, Devin Harris and The Latest NBA Buzz
NBA trade rumors are flying fast and furious, so we're here with another day's NBA trade buzz.
We'll be going back to the Carmelo Anthony saga in Denver.
There's still plenty to talk about as the Knicks and Nets try to outbid each other for Anthony.
We'll also be going around the league, talking about players like Troy Murphy, who may be traded or bought out in the coming weeks.
There's plenty to talk about as we get closer to the All-Star break. We also had a full slate of games last night, and there's plenty of news to tackle from those games.
As always there's no need to refresh, as the updates will come straight to you. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave them in the comments.
There's a lot to cover, so let's get right to it.
Has Donnie Walsh Lost his Influence in New York?
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Isiah Thomas has influence when it comes to the personnel moves of the New York Knicks.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, Thomas is in owner James Dolan's ear and that Donnie Walsh has been undercut in negotiations, leading to the inclusion of more players in the deal, something Walsh had not planned on doing.
If this doesn't make Dolan a lock for the worst owner in all of sports, I don't know what is.
There are plenty of bad owners out there, but only Dolan would come back to a guy who ran his team into the ground with terrible moves just like this.
Walsh reportedly didn't want to do this and neither did Amar'e Stoudemire: you cannot gut the team for a superstar.
If you do that, it sets you up to be trapped by the salary cap and you will never win a championship.
Sure, Anthony and Stoudemire would be great in New York, but you need role players to win in the NBA and the Knicks would be trading all of them away, just to land a superstar.
As if Thomas' influence in this one deal wasn't bad enough, the report gets worse.
Thomas evidently is angling to force Walsh out after his contract is up and then install a puppet regime in his place that will listen to his half-baked advice.
I wouldn't believe it if it wasn't Dolan, Thomas and the New York Knicks.
Why would anyone want to play for this organization with the way it's run?
New York finally gets a smart basketball man in there in Donnie Walsh and now he could be on his way out, only to see the old management put back in.
This is a tragedy if the trade as proposed goes down and Isiah Thomas returns to power.
Are the Nets Underdogs in the Carmelo Anthony Sweepstakes?
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After posturing like the hunt for Carmelo Anthony was over, the New Jersey Nets met with Carmelo Anthony yesterday, according to ESPN and Yahoo! Sports reports.
Anthony met with Mikhail Prokhorov last night but according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, New Jersey didn't walk away confident and according to Chris Broussard and Marc Stein of ESPN.com, Anthony was non-committal.
If that's the case, then this puts the Knicks in the driver's seat.
If I'm New York, I would back off of the trade proposal and wait for Anthony to come to New York as a free agent. If he wants to truly be a Knick, the money can be made back through endorsement deals.
Anthony also has to know that if New York does this trade and the Knicks have two big contracts on the books, the team will struggle to put role players around him and Amar'e Stoudemire.
However, if Wojnarowski's report of Isiah Thomas' influence with the team is true, then the Knicks have a lot more to worry about than two big contracts.
James Dolan needs to start listening to the voice of reason, mainly Donnie Walsh, who is trying to be patient with the situation. You don't built championship teams overnight and the Knicks are somewhat successful thanks to that patience.
Unfortunately for Knicks fans, Dolan doesn't do that and this team is destined to be run into the ground if he keeps listening to Thomas.
Which Deal Does Denver Prefer?
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Right now, Denver has two options โ New Jersey or New York
New Jersey and Denver reportedly agreed to a deal that would send Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Melvin Ely and Renaldo Balkman to New Jersey for Derrick Favors, Troy Murphy, Devin Harris, Ben Uzoh and four first-round picks.
New York has offered the Nuggets Raymond Felton, Danillo Gallinari, Eddy Curry, Wilson Chandler and a first-round pick for Anthony, Billups and other players.
Denver, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com, prefers the deal from the Nets, and why shouldn't they?
Denver would get essentially five first-round picks, if you count Favors, and Devin Harris for Anthony, Billups and players that wouldn't really make any sort of impact.
I don't know what New Jersey was thinking when it agreed to those terms, but the Nets wouldn't be doing much winning with the team that would be left after the trade.
New York is even offering too much for Anthony and somehow, the Nuggets bargained from a position of weakness to get two deals that would be too much for their superstar.
Anthony is a great player, but he's not worth a whole team's future, and that's exactly what the Nets and the Knicks would be giving up with both of these deals.
At some point, sanity has to emerge and these teams need to realize that they're giving up all of this talent and then signing Anthony to a contract extension that will push the team against the salary cap after the new labor agreement is in place.
Players will never sign contracts like they have in the past once there's a new collective bargaining agreement comes into play.
If the Nets and the Knicks want to play this game, it's their funeral, just don't expect anyone to be crying for them.
Could Marcus Camby Be on the Way Out?
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Marcus Camby is a guy who has had his name floated around in trade talks as the Portland Trail Blazers get closer and closer to the trade deadline.
According to John Canzano of The Oregonian, Portland would love to get Camby back from injury before Thursday's trade deadline so that it can try and float his name out there to teams as trade bait.
The team isn't optimistic that Camby will get back by Wednesday's game against the Lakers and if he doesn't, there may not be a huge market for the center.
However, I've said a couple of times on this site that Oklahoma City should pursue the big man.
There haven't been any reports that suggest that the Thunder are in the market for a player like Camby, but it would make a lot of sense to pursue him.
The one thing Oklahoma City lacks is a tough presence inside and Camby would certainly give that to the Thunder.
It would be the type of move that could send the Thunder deep into the playoffs.
Oklahoma City has a talented group, and Camby could be the type of guy to help push the team over the top.
With Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook providing a huge chunk of the scoring, moving some pieces around to land Camby would help make Oklahoma City a team that could get the big rebounds in big momentsโsomething the Thunder couldn't do against Los Angeles in the playoffs last year.
Will Cleveland Make A Move?
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If the Cleveland Cavaliers don't make a move at the deadline, it won't be for a lack of trying.
According to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal, the Cleveland Cavaliers likely will be holding onto Antwan Jamison and Mo Williams at the deadline with the uncertain labor situation and possible rules under the next collective bargaining agreement holding things back on the trade market.
However, that doesn't mean that Cleveland still can't work a deal.
Lloyd writes that the Cavaliers are rumored to be in talks with Chicago for Anthony Parker, but that those talks might be in jeopardy because Cleveland would reportedly like to bring Parker back for next season.
The thinking there is that the Cavs wouldn't trade him for a draft pick they could snag on draft night.
Cleveland is in an awkward spot in terms of making a deal.
A guy like Anderson Varejao was someone that could have brought back some valuable assets, but with his injury keeping him out for the season, he has no value on the market.
In past years, contracts like Jamison's wouldn't have been a problem, but no one is looking to take on big money before a new agreement that could really hurt teams that have big money deals on the books.
The Cavaliers will have to wait and make a deal after the season, when it could use these assets and their trade exception to make some moves before or during the draft.
Will Devin Harris Be on the Move?
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According to Colin Stephenson of the Newark Star-Ledger, the New Jersey Nets have decided to trade Devin Harris regardless of what happens with the Denver Nuggets and the Carmelo Anthony saga.
The report goes on to say the Nets have had a couple of offers on the table for Harris, one of them involving the Portland Trail Blazers.
The possible deal would send Harris to Portland for Andre Miller and possibly Rudy Fernandez.
Harris is a good young player, but he's not your typical point guard, so I can see why the Nets would be down on him.
All of this is assuming the Denver deal falls through, which it looks like it will.
New Jersey gave up Jason Kidd to get Harris and now is moving the point guard. He hasn't played at the level that he did in Dallas and it's because he didn't have the same talent around him.
If I were the Nets, I'd be hesitant to give up on Harris, even if he's not the Rajon Rondo type of point guard.
The man can score the basketball and the Nets don't have too many of those players on the roster.
Keep your eye on this situation, because Portland could get a very talented player back to pair with LaMarcus Aldridge.
If that happens, we could see new life in the Blazers.
O.J. Mayo Staying in Memphis?
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O.J Mayo looked like a guy who was on his way out in Memphis not too long ago.
However, with Rudy Gay sidelined with a shoulder injury, it looks like Mayo might be back in the fold according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
Washburn reported that Memphis regrets making the swap that sent Mayo to the Grizzlies and Kevin Love to Minnesota.
Not only that, but Mayo got into an altercation with Tony Allen and was suspended for using an illegal substance.
Mayo would have netted a nice return on the trade market, but now's not the time to be trading a scorer of his caliber.
Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol can't carry a team by themselves and Mayo is the best scoring option Memphis has.
The best case scenario here is that Mayo gets starters minutes, which he should, and raises his trade value by playing well with Gay out of the picture.
The Grizzlies are tied with Utah for the eighth spot in the Western Conference and if Memphis can get in, maybe it could scare a team in the first round if Gay can get back and play as well as he did before the injury.
I'm sure Memphis would still listen about Hasheem Thabeet, although I'm not sure a team would take him if you dropped him off at their door step.
Are Golden State and New Jersey Talking Trade?
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According to Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com, Golden State and New Jersey are talking about a trade that would send Dan Gadzuric and Brandan Wright to New Jersey for Troy Murphyย and a second-round pick.
It's not an overwhelming deal by any stretch of the imagination, but it's something to get the ball rolling on the trade market.
This deal would obviously be done if the whole deal with Denver doesn't pan out and the Nets have to look elsewhere to make something happen.
However, this move wouldn't be something to help Golden State in the short term on the court. Murphy wouldn't be likely to suit up for the Warriors and would likely be bought out to help the salary cap number going forward.
A lot of people have suspected that about Murphy since the three team deal that almost sent Carmelo Anthony to New Jersey and Murphy to Detroit.
New Jersey is in an odd place right now and this Anthony saga is tying up the trade talks around the entire league.
Once the first domino falls, we are going to see a lot of talking and more deals start to get done in the next couple of days.
It will be an exciting race to the deadline, despite the lack of drama around the league so far.
