HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

This Is How It Goes: It is rare in the NBA to make massive roster change and have immediate success. There is almost always a steep learning curve with mid-season trades. The situation with the Denver Nuggets and their 12-4 record since trading away the core of their team to the New York Knicks is an aberration - it rarely happens so flawlessly. This is why the situation with the New York Knicks, who are 7-9 since acquiring Carmelo Anthony and a cast of former Nuggets, is not that unusual.

Knicks’ president Donnie Walsh admitted he knew making such a huge trade would impact the flow of his team, but believed it was the right deal to make for the future.

"I never did [mid-season deals] very often, if I had teams that I thought were going to go deep in the playoffs," Walsh said Mark Hale of The New York Post. "This was the kind of trade where I wasn’t sure we were going to go deep in the playoffs."

"We had an opportunity to get two really good players and so I did it and I think it’s good for the franchise’s future," he said. "But I knew it would disrupt where we were from the trade deadline on. And I think that’s turned out to be true."

The Knicks have struggled to score the ball in their last four losses, but the general vibe from the Knick players is they are not panicking.

"If you guys can remember, we started the year off this season with a bunch of new guys. We started off I think 3-8 or 3-9 or so," Knicks’ forward Amar’e Stoudemire said. "And then once we figured out the correct spacing and the ball movement and how to space the floor and run the court, then we went on a tear.

"I think it’s a similar situation now," he said. "We’ve got new guys and we’re kind of starting off a little slow, trying to figure out the spacing and how to run with vision. And once we get that figured out, then we’re going to start rolling."

Newly acquired All-Star Carmelo Anthony looked comfortable on the floor last night in New York, despite dropping the game to the Orlando Magic.

"I have faith. I believe," said Anthony. "We believe that something will turn around quickly."

"We just need to relax, man," Anthony said to Ebenezer Samuel of the Daily News. "We’re just putting too much pressure on ourselves. We’re losing games we should be winning. We need to relax and have fun. I don’t think there is no fun in the game, and we need to bring it back in the game."

"Everybody just relax," Anthony said. "Just go out there, just play basketball. Just play the way you know how to play. These times ain’t gonna last forever."

"Losing games…that’s the toughest part," he said. "Losing games we should be winning. As far as experience, I am still having fun. I just want everyone else on the team to have fun."

The Knicks have a four-and-a-half game lead on the Indiana Pacers, who have won two straight games.

The Knicks have 11 games left on the season and will see just five teams currently in the playoff picture in Orlando, Philadelphia, Indiana, Chicago and Boston. The Rest of the schedule is comprised of Milwaukee, Charlotte, New Jersey, Cleveland, Toronto and New Jersey again.

Barring an outright collapse the Knicks should make the playoffs, and the odds of the Knicks dropping eight straight with their schedule is a bit unlikely, however the magic number of for the Knicks to clinch the playoffs appears to be eight.

Any combination of Knicks wins and Milwaukee losses that equals eight insures the Knicks are in the playoffs.

Who’s The MVP? The NBA’s postseason award ballots are due into the league office on April 14th, the day after the last regular season game.

This means how players play over the next 21 days can and often does influence how voters cast their votes.

To be clear the voting process for the NBA’s post-season awards is far from perfect. A field of 122 voters is handpicked by the 30 NBA teams and the NBA and as you can imagine the teams tend to lean towards personalities that will vote their way if they have a player in contention.

This years’ MVP vote has more intrigue than most years, because there is no clear cut front runner.

Orlando’s Dwight Howard is a legitimate candidate, as is Chicago’s Derrick Rose. Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki will receive some votes, as should New Orleans’ guard Chris Paul. A strong case could be made co-MVPs live in Miami in LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and the show Kobe Bryant has put on with the Lakers since the All-Star break is going to get him votes as well.

Magic head coach Stan van Gundy put in his two cents on the discussion saying he thought his guy impacts more plays on both ends of the floor.

"I don’t think it’s wide open. The media seems to have made their decision, and they’re the ones that vote. So I think it’s over," Van Gundy said toChris Sheridan of ESPN.com . "I mean, I just listen and read. I think it’s over. Derrick Rose has it. I haven’t really read or heard a media guy who is going another way at this point. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t win it."

"I’ve said this before, to me, with his rebounding his scoring and his defense, I don’t think there’s anybody that impacts as many possessions in a game as Dwight does," Van Gundy said. "I think Derrick Rose has been great. I’ll have no problem at all if Derrick Rose wins the MVP. They’ve got the best record in the East, he’s been clearly their leader. You can make a great case for him. "

"I think it’s a hard choice to make, he’s been great. But, I still don’t think anyone impacts as many possessions a game as Dwight does."

There is no doubting Derrick Rose’s season has been amazing, and for a player only in the NBA for three seasons to be playing at such a high level is more than compelling. It’s downright scary when you consider he can still grow and improve.

Dwight Howard’s progression offensively, while maintaining his dominance in the paint is almost unmatched. The only knock on Howard is his team is not performing as well as expected and some voters will put that blame on Howard - after all the MVP makes his team better.

This year more than any other year the MVP race seems to be wide open, and for the first time in a while there are a few candidates that could win, and each would be justified in winning the award.

Stan Van Gundy may believe the MVP award is locked up for Derrick Rose, but the voters have a few more weeks to be swayed so look for more stories on why this guy or that guy is MVP. It may not be a cut and dry decision this year.

Coach K Staying At Duke: Every year or so a NBA team tries to pry Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski away from Durham, North Carolina and with so many teams looking for high profile coaches surely a few teams will coming calling again this summer.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Coach K, who will take the floor tonight versus the Arizona Wildcats, will be coaching his 12th Sweet Sixteen team at Duke. Coach K says he has no desires to leave Duke, but admits he has considered NBA offers over the years.

"I’ve never thought of ever leaving Duke for another school but there were three serious times where I almost left to go to the pros," Krzyzewski said to Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com . "One was when Dave Gavitt took over the Celtics [in 1990], another was with the Trailblazers [in 1994] and the one that I took to a really far level was the Lakers situation. They were great with me. I just could not give up what I’ve done and gotten at Duke. It just wasn’t worth it."

"Your heart has to be in whatever you lead. It became apparent that this decision was somewhat easier to make because you have to follow your heart and lead with it and Duke has always taken up my whole heart."

A former Duke player who is now in the NBA and shall remain nameless ("Grant Hill"), points to Coach K’s Team USA experience as head of the National Team as a key reason Coach K may never leave Duke, saying Coach K gets his chance to coach the very best in the world every summer which satisfies him, but also has re-energized Coach K’s desire to compete.

Coach K admitted the Team USA experience was something he did not expect and it made coaching more enjoyable for him.

"I didn’t know I’d have the opportunity to coach internationally again until Jerry Colangelo asked me," Krzyzewski said. "I love that. It’s made me a better a coach and it’s made me love the NBA even more but I’m good with where I’m at. I’m too old to do anything else."

In 2001 Krzyzewski signed what was called a "lifetime" contract with Duke; however that deal was only for 10 years and expires this year.

Krzyzewski earns about $4 million per season from Duke including a base salary in the $2 million range and additional monies tied to bonuses. Like all college basketball coaches, there are extra dollars paid for radio and TV shows as well travel and lifestyle bonuses. In total Coach K is believed to pull down roughly $6 million per year.

When Mikhail Prokhorov bought the New Jersey Nets, he was believed to have offered Krzyzewski a $12 million per season contract which Krzyzewski turned down.

Before luring Phil Jackson back to the bench in 2004, the Lakers offered Coach K an $8 million per year deal, which got close but ultimately feel apart.

Coach K is exactly two wins away from tying first place in wins on the Division I career wins list and it is conceivable he will get those wins this year.

Once that’s accomplished and his contract expires, what’s left for Coach K to do?

More Twitter: HOOPSWORLD has launched a new Twitter module where we will be releasing more breaking news and insider-type information via Twitter. Make sure you are following all of our guys to insure you are getting the very latest from our team: @stevekylerNBA, @AlexKennedyNBA, @jfleminghoops, @TheRocketGuy, @EricPincus, @joelbrigham, @alexraskinNBA, @stephenlitel, @TommyBeer and @YannisHW.

NBA Chats: There are three NBA Chats today starting with HOOPSWORLD rookie Stephen Brotherston at 12pm EST. Stephen covers the Toronto Raptors and the Eastern Conference for HOOPSWORLD. Senior NBA Writer Joel Brigham will host his weekly NBA chat at 4:30pm EST. HOOPSWORLD rookie Lang Greene will host his NBA chat tonight at 8pm EST. Lang covers the Atlanta Hawks and the Eastern Conference. Get your questions in early. You can always find the next NBA chat here: Upcoming NBA Chats.