Knicks Now Preparing For the Worst? NY Looks to Sign Marc Gasol If Melo Chooses To Sign Extension With Another Team Before Offseason

It has been very eventful the last 5 days as talks of Carmelo Anthony to New Jersey talks get hotter and hotter.  This situation has gotten so dramatic, that there is word that the Denver Nuggets had sent a memo to the Nets threatening to trade Carmelo to the Knicks if they continued to leak possible trade details.  Now we all believe this is an empty threat by the Nuggets because as we all know, Donnie Walsh sent a message to Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri and president Josh Kroenke last month asking them to select anyone off the Knicks roster (accept Amar'e) that interested them, and have gotten no response.


In addition to this multi-player fiasco, word is Carmelo is resigned to the fact that there may not be a trade to his preferred destination, the NY Knicks, and mainly because he has read some of the nonsense that was put out a week ago about how the Amar'e and the Knicks doesn't want him to come in and "screw up" the good thing they have going. But I'm pretty sure with Amar'e and Carmelo being the good friends that they are, have straighten the misinterpretation brought on by the media, and that the Knicks would rather sign him during the off season in order to keep the core pieces they have intact. But with the CBA also looming and the uncertainty it will bring regarding player's salaries and the cap, Carmelo may not be will to make the "salary sacrifice" Lebron James did when he decided to take his talents to South Beach and share cash, and the spotlight with Wade and Bosh


So if things end up not working out in the NY Knicks favor, and Melo decides he is going to sign the extension with New Jersey, or if he "sucks it up" and signs with Denver, the Knicks back up plan as of now is to solidify the center position and bring in the big man from Spain, Memphis Grizzlies' Marc Gasol.  It might not be the consolation prize that Knicks fans were hoping for but it address the need of a position the Knicks are lacking in. What this will mean for project Timofey Mozgov and Ronny Turiaf remains to be seen.

Below are and list of links to today's latest articles from HoopsHype addressing the 15 player blockbuster trade involving Carmelo Anthony and others. Sources include ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, The New York Post, and more.

» Tuesday, January 11 2011

The Nuggets went so far as to tell the Nets that they would deal their star to the New York Knicks if New Jersey continued to leak information on trade talks, Yahoo! Sports reported on Tuesday. But sources told ESPN.com that while the Nuggets were indeed unhappy, threats of a deal with the Knicks couldn't be confirmed. Anthony himself doesn't believe that the Knicks are in play, despite his proclaimed interest in the team. "Who wouldn't want to play in New York?" Anthony said. "I told you that last year. I think that's how all this stuff started, by me making that comment. New York is playing well right now. I don't think they're looking at me, they don't want me to come in here and mess what they have up. That's what I've read." ESPN.com DENVER NUGGETS, DETROIT PISTONS, NEW JERSEY NETS, NEW YORK KNICKS, TRADE, CARMELO ANTHONY  |  Marc J. Spears: "I will answer any question yall want just as long as it aint no trade questions," Melo said. Twitter DENVER NUGGETS, DETROIT PISTONS, NEW JERSEY NETS, NEW YORK KNICKS, TRADE, CARMELO ANTHONY  |  If Carmelo Anthony is unavailable to them, the Knicks' Plan B this summer is to address their starting center position, with Memphis restricted free-agent center Marc Gasol high on their wish list -- as reported by The Post yesterday. But for now, the Knicks are trying to make due without a natural pivot -- and the stinging reality of their void at that position came Sunday, when they were brutalized on the boards 61-42 by the Lakers, with Andrew Bynum overwhelming Amar'e Stoudemire, a natural power forward filling in at center. New York Post MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES, NEW YORK KNICKS, TRADE, MARC GASOL  |  Before resuming trade talks for Carmelo Anthony on Monday, the Denver Nuggets delivered a stern warning to the New Jersey Nets: Unless the public nature of these trade discussions becomes private, be warned that we will send Anthony to the New York Knicks. Nothing else the Nuggets could’ve said would send such chills of unease through the Nets, and that’s why Denver made the threat, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. Yahoo! Sports Indeed, the tone of the discussions between the Nuggets and Nets dramatically changed on Monday. Executives went underground with talks, and several agents were frustrated they could no longer get information from the two teams about where the talks stood. Sources still believed the Nets and Nuggets had the framework of a deal, but the talks had retreated from what one source deemed “really close” on Sunday. Yahoo! Sports DENVER NUGGETS, NEW JERSEY NETS, NEW YORK KNICKS, TRADE, CARMELO ANTHONY  |  But in and around the New Jersey area, Ujiri and Kroenke have been portrayed as neophytes who can’t seem to recognize a good deal when it’s been laid at their doorstep. “That would not sit well with me, either,” said one NBA general manager. “A negotiation is a negotiation, and however you get from the starting point to the deal, that should stay between the two parties. To me, the best negotiations, the best trades, are the ones no one reads anything about until it happens. That’s how it should be done.” Sporting News DENVER NUGGETS, NEW JERSEY NETS, NEW YORK KNICKS, TRADE, CARMELO ANTHONY  |  Carmelo Anthony reiterated Monday what he's circulated all along: He'd love to play in New York and at Madison Square Garden, the place he admires as a former Brooklynite. But from what he's gathered, the Knicks aren't interested in pursuing a trade. "New York is playing well right now. I don't think they're looking at me," Anthony told reporters after practice in Denver. "They wouldn't want me to come in there and mess what they have up. That's what I've read." New York Daily News DENVER NUGGETS, NEW YORK KNICKS, TRADE, CARMELO ANTHONY  |   The Knicks remain Anthony’s preferred destination, but Ujiri has told Knicks president Donnie Walsh that his team doesn’t have the assets Denver wants. When Walsh has asked Ujiri to provide him with a list of the Nuggets’ desires, whether it be draft picks or specific players from other teams, sources said Ujiri has been unresponsive. Yahoo! Sports DENVER NUGGETS, NEW YORK KNICKS, TRADE, CARMELO ANTHONY  | Though the Knicks and Nuggets have had dialogue about Anthony, a person with knowledge of the discussions said the Nuggets have not told the Knicks what players they would want in return. Draft picks are a given. There is a reluctance to break up this roster just for one player - Mike D'Antoni regularly professes a deep adoration for this group - but multiple sources insist that if there were a deal to be made for Anthony, the Knicks would do it. Newsday DENVER NUGGETS, NEW YORK KNICKS, TRADE, CARMELO ANTHONY  |  In a little more than two months, Amar'e Stoudemire has established himself as not only a bona fide franchise player but an MVP candidate. Clearly, the Knicks are his team and he is the face of the franchise.But any suggestion that he would rather not see Carmelo Anthony in a Knicks uniform is ludicrous.Newsday DENVER NUGGETS, NEW YORK KNICKS, TRADE, AMARE STOUDEMIRE, CARMELO ANTHONY  |  In the summer, Stoudemire talked openly about his intention to join forces with other stars, such as Anthony, in New York.At practice Monday, he was asked if that still is the case. "No question," he said. "Absolutely." Stoudemire would not directly address Anthony's situation. "I don't know what's going on," he said. "I just hope it works out for the best."But he didn't exactly shoot down the idea of blowing up the roster to bring in another superstar player - although at this point, with the Nets reportedly on the verge of acquiring Anthony in a three-team trade, it might be moot. Newsday DENVER NUGGETS, NEW YORK KNICKS, TRADE, AMARE STOUDEMIRE, CARMELO ANTHONY  |   If the Nets pull off the blockbuster multi-team trade and Anthony accepts a contract extension, the Knicks are expected to change the focus of this offseason to restricted free agent 7-foot-1 center Marc Gasol.The younger brother of the Lakers' Pau, Gasol is the type of burly big man the roster lacks and team president Donnie Walsh covets. New York Post MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES, NEW YORK KNICKS, TRADE, MARC GASOL  |