HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Here’s where the Lakers rumor comes from. The Nuggets have long had interest in Derrick Caracter, whom they tried to buy outright under previous management. So the thinking is the Lakers would send Caracter, their $5 million Traded Player Exception (as past of a secondary, related transaction), Lamar Odom, and another piece to the Nuggets in exchange for Carmelo. That’s not a terrible deal for Denver. It’s not a great deal, but it’s not terrible, either. If the Nuggets had no other offers on the table it might be reasonable to think they would consider such a trade, particularly if you believe they would even remotely consider trading Melo in a three-team deal that netted them Corey Brewer and Wilson Chandler . . .which they wouldn’t . . .even remotely.

Of course, that’s not today’s rumor from "sources" close to ESPN Los Angeles. No, today’s sources have the Lakers sending Andrew Bynum to the Nuggets for Carmelo . . .straight up. How nice would that be for the Lakers? Surely a trade like that would let Kupchak eclipse Miami’s Pat Riley for Executive Of The Year. Unload a $15 million a year player who is injured 40% of the time and get an All-Star in return.

Surely the Nuggets can do better than that. Yes, they surely can.

The fact remains that Melo’s number one suitor – the New York Knicks – are trying everything they can think of to put together a package, include a third team, anything to land Melo before the trade deadline. The initial excitement over Amar’e Stoudemire and Raymond Felton has cooled as the losses have begun piling up, and New York is now just sixth in the Eastern Conference with Philadelphia and Indiana closing fast. They’re still vastly better than last season, but they’re also well short of where they would like to be.

And then there’s the Houston Rockets, who remain very much in the hunt for a trade with Denver. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, however, Carmelo does not appear to be Houston’s true end game. The Rockets would much prefer to act as facilitator in a bigger trade involving Anthony, in which they send something like Yao Ming’s expiring contract and Shane Battier out and bring Nene and Al Harrington back from Denver. Jared Jeffries’ expiring deal could be substituted for Battier at nearly the same price. The Rockets are also have enough first round draft picks to make any team happy. Add Nene and Harrington to the mix in Houston and they are dramatically better overnight and long-term without having to gamble on Carmelo’s future.

Again, the Denver Nuggets are anything but sold on trading Carmelo Anthony. Most of that talk is coming out of the teams that would like to acquire him, and not the Nuggets themselves. The Nuggets are taking phone calls, listening to offers, and making absolutely no commitments. They’re waiting for the deal that blows them away, and so far it hasn’t come. Keep in mind, if the Nuggets trade Carmelo they are trading away a franchise . . .and they will expect a franchise in return.

Stojakovic Makes Mavs Debut

Peja Stojakovic made his much-anticipated debut with the Dallas Mavericks last night, tallying eight points and five rebounds in 20 minutes of action. In this exclusive interview, Stojakovic talks with HOOPSWORLD about starting his first time out, playing with, rather than against Dirk Nowitzki, his relationship with former and now current head coach Rick Carlisle and more!

Trading Aaron Brooks
 
The Houston Rockets have also been in the news this week because of the team’s fallout with Aaron Brooks, who is upset over his perceived lack of playing time and with the loss of his starting role. The issue with Brooks, of course, is that he’s a shoot-first point guard very much in the mold of former Rockets guard Steve Francis. Like Francis, Brooks can put points on the board in a hurry. Also like Francis, Brooks doesn’t actually help his team win basketball games.

When Brooks suffered a severe ankle sprain earlier this season it allowed Kyle Lowry to move into the starting rotation, and the move immediately resulted in a better brand of basketball for the Rockets. With Lowry distributing the ball in the true floor leader mold, guys like Luis Scola and Chuck Hayes got more involved in the offense and the team started to win. Head coach Rick Adelman liked the starting unit so much better with Lowry in the mix that he has continued to start Lowry even now that Brooks is basically healthy.

{AUTHOR_BOX}The Rockets are a very stats-centric team, and the stats don’t lie when you compare Brooks to Lowry. Lowry is a better defender (1.5 steals per game to Brooks’ career average of .6), Lowry averages more than half again as many assists as Brooks (6.4 to 4.1) and Lowry is a better shooter on the season, hitting 41% overall to Brooks’ 37%. Lowry’s even added a reliable three-point shot to his arsenal, connecting on a career-best 39% on a career-high 178 attempts. 

The bottom line is, the Rockets are a better team with Lowry running the show.

Does that mean the Rockets are actively looking to trade Brooks, as is being widely reported out of New York today? Not necessarily. The Rockets value Brooks as a player and as a commodity, so the suggestion that they would deal him for ending contracts is utterly ridiculous. Earlier this season the Rockets turned down an offer of Carl Landry for Brooks, and they love Carl Landry. If the Knicks were to offer something like Danilo Gallinari they might get Houston’s attention, but that’s a stretch for the Knicks, who also don’t have a starting spot open for Brooks . . .and we have already seen how much he enjoys coming off the bench. 

In all fairness to Brooks he’s in a tough situation. The Rockets have a very hard line stance on restricted free agents, which is that they let the market set their value. They also work to keep their players’ values low by letting it be known that they will match any offers. We’ve seen it time and time again with players like the aforementioned Landry, Luis Scola, Kyle Lowry and now Brooks, to name a few. This way of doing business saves the Rockets some money, but also makes agents reluctant to deal with them, as they don’t appreciate the hard line stance. If you’re wondering why some of the top free agents pass the Rockets by, that’s a big part of the reason.

None of that changes the reality of the situation for Brooks, however, and it doesn’t help his case that while he was suspended last night the Rockets handled the Denver Nuggets in Denver while reserve point guard Ish Smith handed out six assists in 12 minutes . . .more than Brooks manages in three games.