The Denver Post spoke with Chauncey Billups, who had some advice for Carmelo Anthony:

“It’s tough, but I think that’s the one thing he has to do, is whoever it is in his camp that’s speaking and talking and doing whatever, he has to take that up with them and say ‘Listen, where’s all of this coming from?’ ” Billups said. “That’s something that internally he has to fix.

“Honestly, I think that the publications and things are out of control. None of this stuff has come out of Melo’s mouth. He has not once said he didn’t want to be a Nugget. He loves Denver, he loves the Nuggets, he loves the fans. So, it’s a part of him that I’m sure is eating him up a little bit because he’s taken all this press, and he’s not said one thing to support or to not support what they are saying. He’s just trying to enjoy his summer, chill out.”

The news is leaking out, and that may be planned or unplanned, but according to Ric Bucher and people of his ilk, Anthony isn’t keeping his desire to play for the Knicks a secret.

Hell, even his new bride, LaLa Vasquez, is talking about possibly moving to New York:

“Us being in New York is a possibility,” LaLa told the Daily News’ Amanda Sidman. “It depends on ‘Melo’s career and where it takes him. There’s a lot of talk about the Knicks, I mean, there’s a lot of teams out there, he’s a great player and I think collectively we just need to think about what makes sense for our family. But I would never say that being in New York is not an option, I’d be lying to you if I said that.”

LaLa, who is from Brooklyn, admitted that she’s always been a Knicks fan “until I met my husband, then I jumped ship to the Nuggets. ‘Melo will tell you, and all the players will tell you no matter where their loyalty is, there aren’t many places like Madison Square Garden. They’ll all say that, and it’s nothing against their teams but there is a different energy in there, and you really can’t top that.”

One reason that Carmelo isn’t really discussing his situation is because he will be fined if he publicly requests a trade.

Larry Coon, who developed the uber-valuable NBA Salary Cap FAQ, writes that the Denver Nuggets ultimately have control in the Carmelo situation.

So unlike Cleveland with James, Toronto with Bosh and the Phoenix Suns with Amare Stoudemire, the Nuggets have a trump card. They can leave their extension offer on the table, refuse to entertain trade offers and wait Anthony out. It would then be up to Anthony to choose between a bigger payday and playing for the team of his choosing.

But such a strategy would be very risky, so the Nuggets could decide to mitigate their risk and deal Anthony this season — which also avoids the chemistry issues that go with having an unhappy superstar on their roster.

In a vacuum, I’d agree with Coon that the Nuggets have control. However, if Carmelo officially requests a trade once a new GM is hired, and the Nuggets don’t move him, they’re going to have one very unhappy superstar. That can quickly poison the locker room and waste a perfectly good season of rebuilding.

Coon also discusses how Anthony put himself in position by signing a longer deal than LeBron and Wade did:

Anthony signed a four-year extension in 2006 that took effect in 2007 and runs through the 2010-11 season (he has the option of extending for one additional season, through 2011-12). In contrast, James, Bosh and Wade elected to sign shorter extensions so as to become free agents this summer rather than next.

The difference is potentially staggering — this summer marks the last free-agent market under the purview of the current collective bargaining agreement. When Anthony becomes a free agent, it will be under the terms of the next agreement.

This could represent very bad timing on Anthony’s part. The next agreement isn’t expected to do the players any favors; the owners are seeking significant changes such as some form of hard cap and a dramatic decrease in the percentage of revenues paid to the players. Should Anthony become a free agent in 2011, his chances of being paid commensurate to the extension he turned down might be nil.

Ouch. With the uncertainty of the new (more owner-friendly) collective bargaining agreement looming, Anthony has a difficult task — orchestrate a trade to a preferred team while at the same time signing the three-year extension that’s still on the table.

If this runs into the season, I don’t see the Nuggets trading Anthony by the deadline unless he starts to pout or the team is playing so bad in January and February that the writing is clearly on the wall. It’s more likely that the Nuggets will be somewhere in the Top 4 in the West and no one in Colorado will want the team to trade Melo away when there’s another playoff run on the horizon. I remember going around and around with Raptor fans who thought Chris Bosh was going to re-sign because the Raptors were playing decent ball and were sitting in the #6 spot in the East at the trade deadline. So much for that.

In the end, Anthony holds the cards because he can force a trade with grumpy play and/or mysterious injuries. Or he could accept the fact that he won’t get the extension but he’ll still know that he’ll have the opportunity to make more money in endorsements once he hits the New York market.

This is a player’s league and ultimately the players have control.

Woody Paige says they should.

Karl, Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Nene and — I’ve decided, upon further review — Martin, Andersen and J.R. Smith have earned one more turn together.

Let’s find out if they can pick up where they left off six months ago and win again. If they can’t, six months from now, people can break up the Nuggets.

Carmelo can be traded.

At the end of the season, Martin and Smith’s contracts will expire; the Nuggets will have the option on Billups’ final year, and Anthony can walk away as a free agent if he’s not been traded by then. Let him go. Don’t burn jerseys. He will have given the Nuggets eight entertaining, controversial and winning seasons.

The Nuggets would be freed of almost $65 million in cap space (and Nene will have only one more season of an $11.6 mil salary) — and could start over, and go sign free agents and draft players in the first round once more. Besides, who knows what will become of the collective bargaining disagreement by then?

Sure, the Nuggets may be a 55-win team when everything goes their way, and maybe they have another Western Conference Finals run in them, but the big question is — are the Nuggets really a threat to the Lakers?

Because I know how this wait-and-see strategy is going to go. In February, the Nuggets are probably going to be somewhere in the #2-#4 range in the West, and they aren’t going to want to trade their best player away. Anthony will be happy because the team is winning and he’s resigned himself to another few months in Denver, and he won’t be talking about free agency.

But when the Nuggets inevitably lose in the playoffs, it will all start up again. At that point, the franchise will have lost whatever leverage they had. They will not be able to get anything (or much) in return because the Knicks will have the cap space to sign him.

So why not get the best deal you can now?

Want good young players? The Knicks have reportedly offered Danilo Gallinari and Eddy Curry’s expiring contract. Would they add Anthony Randolph to the deal if it meant they could lock up Carmelo long-term? I think they would.

Want draft picks? The Rockets could offer Kevin Martin and two first rounders that they got from the Knicks as part of the Tracy McGrady trade. If the Knicks don’t land Anthony, there’s a good chance that both of those will be lottery picks. If it all works out, there’s a chance the Nuggets could add three good players to a core that would presumably include Ty Lawson.

Knowing when to start the rebuilding process is one of the toughest things for a franchise to do and it’s often a painful, confusing process. If the Nuggets don’t trade Carmelo this summer, they may very well come to regret it.

We can add a few teams to the list of Carmelo Anthony’s ‘acceptable’ trade destinations.

Ken Berger of CBSSports reports:

Melo would accept other destinations as well, and the Magic are believed to be at the top of his list along with the Knicks, according to a person familiar with his strategy.

Chris Mannix of SI.com has a source that says Anthony is interested in being traded to the Rockets or the Nets, as well.

Multiple league sources familiar with his situation told SI.com that Anthony would also be open to signing a long-term deal with Houston or New Jersey should either of those teams offer the Nuggets an acceptable trade package.

Getting Anthony, 26, to agree to an extension is the key to any deal as he can become a free agent after the 2010-11 season.

The trade and the extension would probably have to happen simultaneously for any team other than the Knicks to risk trading for Melo. The Knicks on the other hand could probably trade for Anthony with the confidence that he’d want to re-up next summer. As a side note, the Knicks are reportedly offering Danilo Gallinari and Eddy Curry for Anthony, which is an Anthony Randolph short of the deal I suggested a few days ago.

I don’t think Denver is all that interested in financial relief, because they could just let Anthony’s deal expire next summer. They need to get a good young player or two and/or one or two first round draft picks. The Rockets have the the rights to the Knicks’ first-round draft picks in 2011 (Top 1 protected) and 2012 (Top 5 protected), but they just traded away Trevor Ariza, who could have been the key name in a possible package.

But how about Kevin Martin, Jared Jeffries’ expiring deal and one or both of those first round picks? That would give the Nuggets a youngish, reasonably-priced shooting guard to replace some of Melo’s scoring.

The Magic could offer Marcin Gortat, Mikael Pietrus and Brandon Bass for Anthony, though Gortat is probably the only quality starter in that offer. The Magic’s first-round picks aren’t as valuable as Houston’s since the Knicks still project to be worse than Orlando. The Magic do have the advantage that they are in the Eastern Conference, assuming the Nuggets would prefer to trade Anthony out of the conference.

Bob Kravitz, Indianapolis Star: If coach Jim O’Brien can’t work with Collison, if he has the same issues with him that he did with Tinsley and Ford, then we can fairly say it’s an O’Brien problem and not a player problem. My sense is, that won’t happen. What this does is put more pressure on O’Brien to produce in the final year of his contract, although it’s the kind of pressure he surely will welcome. Until now, he has been asked to win with lousy players. Now he has some horses. Let’s just say, if the Pacers can’t make a run at .500 with Collison, management’s decision regarding O’Brien’s future will be an easy one. As for Bird and Morway, this one might have been a job-saver. As the weeks wore on without any Pacers news, and news of Donnie Walsh’s imminent departure from New York, it struck me that Walsh might land back here in Indy to replace Bird. But give Bird and Morway credit: They stuck to their guns, refused to take on big contracts for short-term gain, and kept their eyes on the ball. Finally, we’re seeing the dividends.

John DeShazier, The Times-Picayune: One, he got veteran help in Ariza, a 25-year-old, former NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 who’s coming off his best statistical season. Yes, there’s a risk involved. Collison was one of the league’s best rookies last season and viewed as the ideal backup to Chris Paul at point guard. He could become an All-Star, but the key word is could — 40 or 50 standout games as a rookie don’t constitute a career. Meanwhile, Ariza is a six-year pro whose career has arched upward. Two, he got rid of a declining player with a bad contract (Posey) and an unproductive one (Wright) who assured his departure by refusing to play in summer league after new coach Monty Williams asked him to. It doesn’t matter much whether Belinelli can play, though he’s 6-foot-5 and a career 39 percent shooter from 3-point range, compared to Wright, who was as likely as not to airball a foul shot. A Wright-for-anyone trade falls in the addition by subtraction file. As nice as Wright was, no one accused him of actually “getting” it.

Dave D’Alessandro, The Star-Ledger: The deal is low-risk and high-reward for Nets GM Billy King, because it’s rare to land a productive power forward in the prime of his career with an expiring contract, one who is willing to hold a job until rookie Derrick Favors is ready to snatch it from him. The 6-10 Murphy is one of the league’s most unique players, a power forward who can be a game-buster from the arc but can also throw his weight around. Two seasons ago, he became the first player in NBA history to finish in the top five among the league’s rebounders (11.8 rpg) and 3-point shooters (.450).

Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle: The Rockets tried to trade to get Courtney Lee in the 2008 NBA Draft. They tried to trade to get him last year before the Orlando Magic traded him to the New Jersey Nets. They tried to trade to get him after he went to the Nets. Finally Wednesday, the Rockets landed Lee, sending forward Trevor Ariza to the New Orleans Hornets after just one season in Houston to complete a four-team, five-player deal.In two seasons, the 6-5 Lee has averaged 10.3 points on 44.2 percent shooting. He averaged 12.5 points with the Nets. The Rockets, however, were particularly drawn to his defense, citing his ability to defend at three positions. “He’s very intriguing defensively,” Rockets vice president for player personnel Gersson Rosas said. “He’s going to follow the game plan to a T. He eats up direction and guidance from coaches. “He can defend big ‘ones’ like Deron Williams, Rodney Stuckey, Jason Kidd. He gives us a direction we did not have before. He’s cut from the same cloth as Shane Battier. He really values the details, has a great approach. He really takes it personal.”

Note: You can read my take here.

I wouldn’t call this a ‘mega-trade’ but it’s a pretty significant in terms of the players involved and its impact on the potential departure of Chris Paul.

Chad Ford has the (brief) details:

In the proposed deal, the Houston Rockets will send Trevor Ariza to the New Orleans Hornets. The Hornets will send Darren Collison and James Posey to the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers will send Troy Murphy to the New Jersey Nets. And the Nets will send Courtney Lee to the Rockets.

Ford is now reporting that this trade is official.

Here is the deal in the ESPN Trade Machine. Click on the picture to see a bigger version.

Let’s look at the Hornets first since they’re the ones trying to satisfy Chris Paul. They are essentially trading away a good up-and-coming point guard in Darren Collison along with James Posey and the two years remaining on his contract. In return, they’re getting Trevor Ariza, who averaged 15-6-4 while shooting under 40% from the field last season for the Rockets.

I thought they might be able to get a little more for Collison, but Ariza is valuable because he’s an athletic wing who can score a little, but can really defend. He’ll fit in nicely alongside Paul, Marcus Thornton and David West in the Hornets’ starting lineup (assuming Monty Williams starts him). They were also able to shed Posey’s contract, which makes the Ariza acquisition a financial wash for the next two seasons. For the Hornets’ sake, I do wish he could shoot the three a little better, but maybe his 3PT accuracy will rise from its 2009-10 levels (33%) with Paul setting him up for better looks.

Meanwhile, the Pacers get their point guard of the future (Collison) by trading away Murphy, who is in the last year of his deal. Financially, Collison and Posey will cost them an extra $4.2 million because most of their salaries are offset by the loss of Murphy’s salary ($12.0 million) this season. This is really a great move by the Pacers. Collison is going to be a very good point guard in the NBA for a very long time.

As for the Rockets and the Nets — well, the Rockets will shed Ariza’s salary, giving them an additional $4.6 million of cap space heading into the summer of 2011. That should be more than enough to sign a max free agent. Conversely, the Nets add Murphy at the expense of Lee, but his deal is expiring, so it looks like he’ll serve as a stopgap at power forward while the franchise waits for Derrick Favors to develop.

In the end, is this a game-changer for Paul and the Hornets? No, but it’s a step in the right direction. After a summer of treading water (or even losing ground by trading away the #11 pick), the franchise has fully committed to Paul by trading away their backup plan (Collison) for someone who can help him win now.

Given this move, it looks like those who had written off the possibility that Paul would stay in New Orleans were wrong. I don’t think the Hornets would have swung this deal had they thought that Paul was serious about forcing a trade. Either that, or the Hornets have completely misread Paul’s intentions.

You can tell things are slowing down in NBA free agency when I dedicate a whole post to the 34-year-old Brad Miller and his new deal with the Houston Rockets.

Veteran center Brad Miller has agreed to a three-year contract worth $15 million with the Houston Rockets.

Miller attracted interested from numerous other teams but was strongly lobbied to move to Houston by Rockets coach Rick Adelman, who coached him in Sacramento, and guard Kevin Martin, who was Miller’s teammate on the Kings.

Miller said the opportunity was “too good of a deal to pass up,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

This headline jumped out to me because there was some talk about Miller joining the Super Friends in Miami and he ended up taking a far more lucrative deal to play in Houston with his old coach.

…and not in the way you might think.

Per ESPN…

Chris Bosh’s agent has told the Toronto Raptors that he’s narrowed his list of preferred teams to five, two sources told ESPN.com’s Chad Ford at the NBA draft camp.

The list of five teams — Toronto plus the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and New York Knicks, sources said — were given to Toronto management in case the Raptors want to construct a sign-and-trade deal (assuming he doesn’t re-sign with Toronto).

Bosh likes that option, sources told Ford, because he’d get one more year on his contract and could make more money.

I’m not sure why Bosh would give Toronto a list of sign-and-trade destinations that included the Raptors, but hey, sources are sources.

There are no real surprises there. The Bulls, Heat, Knicks and Lakers have long been rumored as possible landing spots for Bosh. But the absence of a few other teams — namely, the Nets, Rockets and Thunder — is a bit surprising.

In terms of potential sign-and-trade chips, each team on his list has at least one player the Raptors might want. Chicago has Luol Deng, though he’s a bit overpaid. The Knicks have David Lee, who would be a nice consolation prize if Bosh decides not to re-sign with Toronto. The Heat have Michael Beasley, but his stock continues to fall. And the Lakers have Andrew Bynum, but with his knee injuries, he’s not as enticing of a prospect as he was at the start of the season.

But here’s what gets me about this story, if it’s accurate — Bosh may want that extra year on his deal, but it’s going to be tough for a team that already has the cap space to sign him to have to take a big hit in young talent and draft picks as well. In fact, this strategy reveals that Bosh is more concerned with the size of his own paycheck than he is with the strength and potential of his new team. I realize it’s a lot of money, but when a player says over and over that it’s “all about winning” and then turns around and forces his new team to give up a couple of prospects and/or draft picks so that he can pocket an extra $30 million (and an extra year on the deal), then clearly he’s being disingenuous.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

The NBA Draft Lottery is tonight, and as always, there is a lot riding on a few ping pong balls. Here is a list of the lottery teams (with their chances of winning the top pick in parenthesis) along with some discussion of their possible strategy if they do win the #1 pick.

ALMOST A SURE THING

Nets (25%)
The Wall-to-New Jersey/Brooklyn rumors have been strong all season, thanks to the Nets’ woeful record and Devin Harris’s struggles. Harris is now viewed as expendable, which means Wall would be a Net if the balls bounce their way tonight.

Wizards (10.3%)
Winning the right to draft Wall would allow the Wizards to cut ties with Gilbert Arenas and the franchise’s gun-toting past. It might also convince a free agent or two to sign for the chance to play with Wall.

76ers (5.3%)
Jrue Holiday is nice, but he’s not going to dissuade the Sixers from drafting a franchise-savior like Wall.

Pistons (5.2%)
See 76ers above but substitute “Rodney Stuckey” for “Jrue Holiday.” That is all.

Pacers (1.1%)
Indiana arguably needs a point guard more than any other team in the lottery, but with just a 1.1% chance of winning, they’re hoping against hope.

Grizzlies (0.7%)
Memphis would be buzzing with the arrival of Wall, who would seemingly be a great fit with O.J. Mayo, a re-signed Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. Memphis would likely make the playoffs next season.

Raptors (0.6%)
The chances are very slim, but winning the right to draft Wall would offset the likely loss of Chris Bosh this summer. Neither Jarrett Jack nor Jose Calderon would be enough to convince the Raptors to draft Evan Turner.

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Last Friday, Chris Bosh used his Twitter page to ask his fans where he should play and why. Some see the move as harmless, while others think he’s out of line for baiting his fans like that. The truth is probably somewhere in between. With the playoffs in full swing — and Bosh sitting at home — I suspect he was missing the limelight a little bit and needed the ego boost.

Regardless, the move confirms that Bosh is seriously considering changing zip codes this summer and Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle suggests that the Rockets can put together one hell of a pitch for the native Texan.

Chris Bosh will open his front door at 12:01 a.m. July 1 and see a smiling Daryl Morey standing between Hakeem Olajuwon and Yao Ming.

How’s that for a first impression?

Just to be clear, Justice doesn’t know that this is the plan, but if it is, that would be a pretty serious pitch. While most of the other teams with cap space — Miami, New York, Chicago, in particular — will be chasing after LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, Houston may be the only team that has Bosh at the top of its list. And that may go a long way with Bosh, who has said in the past that he is the kind of player a franchise can build around.

The presence of Olajuwon and Yao would give a glimpse of the franchise’s past and potential future. Olajuwon won back-to-back titles in the ’90s while Yao is the big center that Bosh has always wanted to play with. (Remember, he thinks of himself as a power forward, not a center.)

The issue with the Rockets is that they don’t have any cap space and can’t sign Bosh outright. But if they can convince him to come to Houston, then the Rockets can then work out a deal with Toronto that is mutually beneficial. Marc Stein has a few ideas:

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