The Knicks-Nets battle is on tonight at the Garden, played against the backdrop of another compelling competition between the cross-river rivals — their off-the-court positioning for Carmelo Anthony.
A new theory floating through the NBA is Nuggets brass is waiting until February to trade Anthony to the Nets to assure Newark’s finest first-round draft pick this June will be a lottery selection.
Anthony’s earlier arrival to Jersey in exchange for promising rookie forward Derrick Favors and draft picks would increase the likelihood of the Nets (6-11) making the playoffs and rising out of the lottery. The key to a potential trade with the Nets is their first-round pick.
The Knicks are long shots because they cannot trade a first-round pick until 2014 — a team is not allowed to go without a pick two straight years. The Knicks traded away their 2012 pick in the failed Tracy McGrady deal with the Rockets and did not have one in 2010. This year’s pick is conditional as the Rockets can swap draft places with the Knicks.
The Nets are desperate to land ‘Melo as a home draw. (They did not even sell out the LeBron James Game.) Plus, the Brooklyn-bound organization is ecstatic over Anthony’s connection to the borough: He lived there until he was 10 and his celebrity wife, La La Vasquez, is a Brooklyn native and dying to make New York their home.
Anthony and the Nuggets visit the Garden Dec. 12 and play in Newark Jan. 31 — three weeks before the trade deadline.
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Coach Mike D’Antoni on team president Donnie Walsh‘s return to practice after hip replacement: “I told him his mileage is back to zero, he’s ready to roll, gotta break in the new car.”
Said Walsh, “I love to come to practice, I love to go to the games and I was missing it. Even though I watch them on TV, it’s different.”
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After playing 50-plus minutes apiece in Sunday’s double-overtime win in Detroit, Amar’e Stoudemire, Raymond Felton and Landry Fields sat out practice to rest yesterday.
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Ronny Turiaf (knee) and Toney Douglas (thigh) are expected to play tonight despite being listed as questionable. . . . Kelenna Azubuike (knee surgery) has practiced fully for a week, but D’Antoni said Azubuike still is not in shape to suit up for a game.