HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Did The Knicks Turn Down A Deal? Frank Isola of The New York Daily News is reporting the New York Knicks turned down a deal with the Denver Nuggets that could have netted them Carmelo Anthony and guard Chauncey Billups.

According to Isola, the Knicks would have had to part with "three starters" including Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton and at least one other, presumed to be Landry Fields.

The deal would have sent the ending contract of Eddy Curry and at least one first-round draft pick to Denver.

The Knicks reportedly felt that deal was too rich for their liking and the deal was tabled.

With just nine days remaining until the NBA’s February 24th trade deadline, there is a chance this deal is revived as the Knicks feel the squeeze of possibly missing Anthony as a free agent.

The deal as proposed would shave off some $6 million in salary for the Nuggets, and would leave them with an additional draft pick and a mid-sized Traded Player exception.

New York’s hesitation is real, mainly because they have no bench depth to replace three outgoing starters. With All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire still nursing a sore toe, the Knicks who are sitting at 27-26 on the season, would surely fall out of the playoff discussion as they tried to fit in so many new pieces with a very thin roster.

The Knicks posture has always been they wouldn’t sell the farm to get Anthony, but it seems Denver is at least open to a deal, even if it cripples the Knicks along the way.

The Knicks would be surrendering a lot of value in the deal, but they would get their man. The question is, is Carmelo really worth that much value?

Melo’s Worst Fear: Our guy Ken Berger of CBS Sports rolled out his latest update on the Carmelo Anthony situation suggesting the NBA trade deadline, which is now approaching like a freight train, could be "D-Day" for Carmelo and the Nuggets.

As Berger explains it, and as we have addressed several times in this space, if the Nuggets do not trigger a trade in the next nine days, Anthony could be saddled with a very real and scary choice.

Do you take the money in hand or risk losing it by opt-ing out?

Anthony is owed $18.5 million next season and has a three-year, $63 million extension on the table. If he opts out of that deal to become an unrestricted free agent, he’ll do it without knowing what the next labor agreement will be.

If the NBA owners get their way, the most he’d be able to sign for on the open market is about four years and $47 million – that’s a far cry from the four years and $81.5 million he could sign for in Denver.

Even with a 15% salary rollback of existing contracts, which is part of the owner’s new labor proposal, Carmelo would clear $69.75 million - or roughly $22.75 million more, for those without a calculator handy.

Having spoken recently with NBA Players’ Association President Derek Fisher about the upcoming labor talks during All-Star weekend, there was a real sense that while the players are hopeful for concessions and an agreement, the posture of the league is very rigid and - as some have characterized it – they are ready for a prolonged fight to get exactly the deal they want.

There may be some give and take on where the actual dollars get set, but the reality facing Carmelo Anthony is the labor world as we know will not exist when NBA games resume next season. Carmelo will have to make some choices before he’ll know what the playing field will really look like.

The NBA owners are pushing for some kind of Franchise tag system. If the NBA adopts the Tag system used in the NFL, Anthony would be guaranteed the average of the top 5 players at his position if tagged. If that system existed today, the average salary of the top five small forwards would be $16.46 million, or less than he’s owed next year.

So Carmelo faces the double whammy – he won’t know what he could earn on the open market, and if a tag systems comes into play after he opts out he could be forced to stay in Denver and make less money than is on the table now.

The Nuggets continue to field calls and entertain trade offers, but the reality of what’s in store for Carmelo gets very real in nine days and the labor meeting in Los Angeles this weekend could help Anthony make a decision.

At the end of the day Carmelo’s dream scenario is to be a New York Knick, but does anyone really believe he’ll leave $22 plus million on the table to chase that dream?

Is Colangelo In Trouble? The Toronto Raptors hired Bryan Colangelo to be their team president in February of 2006. In the five years Colangelo has skippered the Raptors they have amassed a 176-207 record and made the playoffs just twice.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Colangelo is a wildly charismatic person and a very nice guy to talk basketball with, but when push comes to shove a .459 record after five years is a tough sell in terms of merits for a contract extension, which puts Colangelo and his staff clearly on the hot seat.

In a wide ranging Q&A with Steve Simmons of The Toronto Sun, Colangelo says he hopes he and his staff will be allowed to finish what they have started.

"I certainly don’t want to be accused of negotiating through the media, so I won’t," explained Colangelo. "I just hope people realize how much I care for the organization I’m working for and the city I have chosen to live in. I will also add that despite our current record, the franchise is in a pretty favorable position. I do hope I’m here to complete the task."

Colangelo wouldn’t buy into the idea that Toronto is doomed because of its location or situation.

"This franchise will be fine because it has an ownership committed to winning, a dedicated and passionate fan base and Toronto ranks as one of the elite cities in North America. Couple all of that with a shifting landscape where competitive parity remains a key objective and I think this franchise is poised, not poisoned."

Colangelo also praised head coach Jay Triano, who is also a great basketball guy, but has yet to produce a team that inspires its fan base.

"Jay has done a really solid job here given the difficult circumstances," said Colangelo. "We are clearly rebuilding and we have been decimated by injury, yet the young guys are clearly developing nicely and the atmosphere around the team has remained positive. The organization will likely address his contract status and whether to pick up his option year sometime after the season."

Colangelo understands he may be held accountable for declining interest in the Raptors at the box office, but realizes fans will support a winning team and its his job to put that kind of product on the floor.

"This is a great sports market with great fans that just want to see their teams win," acknowledged Colangelo. "Our fan base is our livelihood and yes they mean everything to us so we care very much about dwindling crowds."

"They deserve more and we intend to deliver more. Based on my interactions, I see and hear the frustration but I also think that people realize what is taking place here and that patience has to be part of the process. I also hear many of them say how much fun this team is to watch We have a plan that has been very clearly laid out … develop our "core" talent, add a solid draft pick or two to the mix and utilize our financial flexibility to add an additional impact player where possible. The sooner we get back to winning games the sooner the stands will fill back up."

"I’m also not trying to paint a rosy picture," said Colangelo. "But a few less injuries and we are not as bad as our record currently shows or the prognosticators predicted."

The Toronto Raptors are sitting in 14th place in the East at 15-40. If the NBA Draft Lottery were held today the team is projected to see the fourth overall pick.

Historically the fourth pick has returned solid NBA talent with players like Wesley Johnson (2010), Tyreke Evans (2009), Russell Westbrook (2008), Mike Conley, Jr.(2007), Tyrus Thomas (2006), Chris Paul (2005), Shaun Livingston (2004), and Chris Bosh (2003).

The burning question is will Colangelo and his staff be the ones making the selection with that pick? There is no clear indication he will be.

That’s life on the NBA hot seat.

Could The Spurs Win 72? The San Antonio Spurs are quietly approaching an interesting milestone.

With 55 games played, the Spurs are sitting atop the NBA as the only team with single-digit losses and a league leading 46-9 record.

At this pace, and with 27 games remaining on the schedule, the Spurs seem just outside the reach of the Chicago Bulls’ 72-win single season record.

On February 15th during the 1996-1995 season the Bulls had a 44-5 record. That Bulls team did not record their ninth loss until April 8th.

The Spurs have won 83.6% of their games this season, if that pace can be maintained the Spurs could win 22 of their remaining 27 games, and clock in at 68 wins on the season.

Given how hot the Spurs have been, they could close the gap down the stretch, but they will face 13 playoff teams in their final 27 games including the Miami HEAT and the LA Lakers twice.

The Spurs are having an amazing season, they may just come up a few games short of history when it’s all said and done.

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NBA Chats: There will be three NBA Chats today starting with Luke Byrnes who will host his weekly Hoops Chat at 1pm EST. Luke covers the Western Conference and College Basketball for HOOPSWORLD, so get your questions in early. Senior NBA Writer Eric Pincus will hold his weekly NBA chat today at 4pm. Eric covers the NBA as a whole, but is based in L.A. with the Lakers and Clippers. Stephen Litel will dig out from the snow in Minnesota to hold his weekly NBA Chat at 8pm EST. You can always find the next chat here: Upcoming NBA Chats.