…just as soon as they hire a new GM.

Nuggets management is expected to sit down with Melo some time after the team names a general manager, which it is expected to do next week. Former Suns executive David Griffin is the leading candidate.

Denver is certainly taking its sweet time hiring a GM and whoever they hire will be walking into a veritable sh*tstorm. They’ll have the same task that New Orleans GM Dell Demps had when he had to convince Chris Paul that he had a plan to turn the Hornets around. We haven’t heard much about Paul lately because both sides said that the meeting went well, and Paul said that he was hoping to stay in New Orleans.

Will the Nuggets have the same success in their meeting with Carmelo?

First things first — hire a GM already!

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.

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.

The NBA season will open on 10/26 with the Heat/Celtics and Rockets/Lakers on TNT. The Heat will face the Magic on 10/29, which looks like Miami’s home opener.

The Christmas Day lineup is headlined by the Heat @ Lakers and Celtics @ Magic. Also, there are matchup between the Bulls/Knicks, Thunder/Nuggets and the Blazers/Warriors to round out the day.

The entire schedule will be released on 8/10.

When asked about the Hawks possibly signing Shaq to match up with the Magic, Dwight Howard had this to say to the Atlanta Journal Constitution…

“That’s only four games out of the season. You have to look long term and what’s best for your team. Cleveland got Shaq to match up with the Magic. They also got Antawn Jamison to match up with the Magic. But they didn’t even play the Magic. They played Boston [and lost]. You match up for the league, not just one team.”

The Cavs were eliminated by the Magic in the playoffs the year before, so it’s understandable why they would want to improve their roster with a possible rematch in mind. The Celtics looked like they were getting old very quickly, so they weren’t deemed the threat that the Magic were. That was obviously a big mistake.

I’m interested to find out why the Cavs weren’t able to acquire Amare Stoudemire. He was available for almost two years during the span when the Cavs were retooling their roster and would have seemingly been a very nice fit in the pick-and-roll with LeBron. Hopefully someday Danny Ferry will speak out on the subject because his word is about the only one I trust in this whole mess.

Ken Berger of CBSSports.com says that what we saw from the Hornets’ brass on Monday was a ‘smokescreen’:

“The telltale thing is that Chris Paul won’t comment publicly other than what was released about it,” said a person familiar with Paul’s strategy. “Leon Rose didn’t come out and say, ‘Chris is happy in New Orleans.’ If he was happy, they would’ve said that. … The only way they can get close to full value is to say, ‘You guys can’t make trade demands.’ They’re orchestrating this thing to likely move him.”

The Hornets, meanwhile, have been looking at Orlando, Charlotte and New Jersey as potentially attractive trade partners once the firestorm settles down, according to one of the people with direct knowledge of the Hornets’ strategy. Two other sources familiar with the situation confirmed prior discussions involving the Bobcats and Nets and said those talks are expected to advance in the coming days.

Berger has emerged as one of the league’s more plugged-in writers, but one has to wonder how close this ‘person familiar with Paul’s strategy’ actually is to the man himself.

Paul doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract, so the Hornets can send him wherever they want. The Nets are interesting trade partner due to the upside of Derrick Favors. I doubt New Jersey would give up Brook Lopez, but a deal that included Favors along with salary cap relief might be appealing to the Hornets.

As for Charlotte, it just doesn’t look like the Bobcats have a young piece on the level of Favors (or the Gallinari/Randolph combination from the Knicks). Tyrus Thomas has spent most of his potential capital and Gerald Wallace is getting on in years.

Favors can’t be traded until August 15, though an agreement in principle could be made sooner than that. If the Nets can come out of the summer with a core of Paul and Lopez (while possibly turning Devin Harris into some help on the wing), it will salvage an otherwise disappointing summer.

There were rumblings that the Knicks were Chris Paul’s preferred destination, but now ESPN is reporting that the Magic top his list.

The New Orleans Hornets have yet to start entertaining trade offers for Chris Paul, but that hasn’t stopped the superstar point guard from making exit plans.

The Orlando Magic have emerged as the top team on Paul’s list of preferred destinations, replacing the New York Knicks, according to league sources.

While the Knicks are still high on Paul’s list, he believes the Magic, with All-Star center Dwight Howard, would be a better fit. Paul also realizes Orlando has much more to offer New Orleans in a trade and therefore believes it is a more realistic destination than New York, according to the sources.

When I ran through the various trade scenarios for each team reportedly on Paul’s list, I came up with a deal in the ESPN Trade Machine that would send Jameer Nelson, Marcin Gortat, Brandon Bass and Mickael Pietrus to New Orleans for Paul and Okafor. That doesn’t seem like enough for CP3, even with one or two first round picks thrown in. But who else do the Magic have that the Hornets would want? Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter are too expensive. At least this deal would give Hornets a starting-caliber center (Gortat), an inexpensive quality point guard (Nelson), and a couple of rotation players in Pietrus and Bass.

As for the Knicks, this deal would send Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Anthony Randolph (along with the expiring contracts of Eddy Curry and Kelenna Azubuike) to New Orleans for Paul and Okafor. Gallinari, Chandler and Randolph are all inexpensive, up-and-coming players and could be part of a formidable starting five (with Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton) in a few years.

Don’t the Knicks actually have more to offer?

Paul is meeting with the Hornets on Monday, so I’d expect some movement on this sometime next week. With the way this news is leaking out, it seems like he has his bags packed. The Hornets probably missed the boat on keeping Paul when they traded away their #11 pick and pretty much stood pat this summer (instead of trading Collison away for more wing help and/or making a run at Mike Miller).

Ken Berger of CBS Sports has a source that says Paul has been far more aggressive in angling for a trade than we’ve been led to believe.

When Paul was quoted a few weeks ago as saying he’d be open to a trade if the Hornets aren’t committed to building a championship team, it was only a small hint as to the size of the chasm that exists between the franchise and its cornerstone player. Paul, in fact, has put into motion an aggressive exit strategy that will accelerate in the coming weeks, and his clear intention is to be traded before the start of the 2010-11 season, a person with direct knowledge of his plans told CBSSports.com Wednesday.

“He wants out,” said the person, who has been briefed on Paul’s strategy but spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it publicly. “He wants to play with another superstar. He wants to follow LeBron’s model of teaming up with other great players.”

Paul’s list of preferred destinations consists of the Knicks, Magic and Lakers, and members of his inner circle already have sent word to the Hornets of his desire to be traded to one of those teams, sources say. If Paul has his way, he’s played his last game in a Hornets jersey.

Couple this with the changes at head coach and general manager and it’s clear that the Hornets are a franchise in flux. (This is also why it was so surprising that the Nets were considering Jeff Bower as their GM. He drafted well in New Orleans, but his trades for Peja Stojakovic and Emeka Okafor have put the team in its current predicament.)

So it sounds as if Paul has made his mind up, and is using the ‘committed to winning’ reasoning to get everyone ready for a possible trade. The three teams he reportedly wants to go to all have another star. The Lakers and Magic are established champions/contenders, while the Knicks are attractive due to the market and the presence of Amare Stoudemire.

The writing has been on the wall for some time now, and if the Hornets can’t convince Paul to stick around, their choice is clear. They need to package him with Okafor’s contract and rebuild around their promising young backcourt of Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton.

Here are a few possible trades that make some sense for both sides:

LAKERS

Of the three teams mentioned, the Lakers are able to offer the most attractive package. Perhaps L.A. would be willing to send Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom to the Hornets for Paul and Okafor. (See this deal in ESPN’s NBA Trade Machine.) At first glance this seems to be a lot to give up for a disgruntled star, but we’re talking about the best or the second-best point guard in the league. L.A. has just won two titles — why fix something that isn’t broken? Well, an aging Celtics team just took them to seven games, so the new-look Miami Heat must have the Lakers’ brass a little worried. There’s a saying: If you’re not getting better, you’re falling behind.

For their part, this deal would allow the Hornets to save $5 million this season, and would give the team enough cap space next summer for a max free agent. In total, they would save around $20 million over the next few years, depending on how much of Lamar Odom’s final year is guaranteed. If Bynum can put his knee problems behind him, he’d be a nice addition to the Collison/Thornton core. If not, then the Hornets can get out of the deal in the summer of 2012.

The big downside for the Hornets would be trading Paul to an already strong team in the conference. They’d essentially be enabling the Lakers to control the West for the next several years.

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Orlando Pinstriped Post reports that Dwight Howard is working with Hakeem Olajuwon to develop his post game.

Nearly two weeks ago, when word surfaced that Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard would spend some of his offseason training with 2008 Hall-of-Fame inductee Hakeem Olajuwon, the whole situation felt surreal. Magic fans had expressed their wish for Howard to learn from Olajuwon, via message boards and blog comments sections, for years.

And last night, Howard caused a bit of a stir, which included the usual bevy of negative comments from some of his followers, when he posted a photo of himself with the legendary center.

Howard’s post game has progressed somewhat since he’s entered the league. He still has very little touch, but he looks comfortable when he takes his little jumphook with either hand. The problem is accuracy (and touch) and that comes with repetition.

But Howard has always been more of a bodybuilder than a basketball player. He does not have the natural grace of Olajuwon. He’s big, strong and mechanical, not unlike Shaq in his early years. Eventually, Shaq developed a couple of post moves and he became unstoppable. With practice, Howard can do the same thing.

A relationship with Olajuwon (which should have started five years ago) is a good first step. But sometimes it takes an event to make a player realize just how far he has to go, and the Magic’s loss to the Celtics in the playoffs — when Howard’s post game was a virtual non-factor — seemingly gave Howard the reality check he needed.

He’s never going to turn into Tim Duncan, but if he can become Dwight Howard with a couple of go-to post moves, that will be plenty.

Nate Robinson is reportedly returning to Boston.

Robinson, an unrestricted free agent, has agreed to a two-year deal that will pay him around $4 million per season to return to the Celtics, the Boston Herald reported, citing a league source.

Shortly after Yahoo! Sports first reported news of the re-signing, the Twitter-friendly Robinson seemed to acknowledge the reports of his return by Twittering a song entitled, “Welcome Back.”

Asked by a follower why he chose that, Robinson then Tweeted: “Cuz I’m back n beantown baby yeah.”

Robinson is a talented offensive player and showed some pretty good passing skills when he got some run in the playoffs. He seemed to buy into Doc Rivers’ system and gives the C’s second unit some scoring punch off the bench. I’d expect he’ll play some more now that Rivers (at least somewhat) trusts him.

The Magic matched the Bulls’ offer sheet for J.J. Redick.

As expected, the Magic have matched the Bulls’ offer of three years and $19 million, meaning Redick will stay in Orlando.

In his rookie season, Redick was something of a joke amongst some pundits, but he quietly has turned himself into a capable NBA shooting guard. Offensively, he’s going to stick to what he does best — make open shots. Defensively, he has realized that he’s going to have to put in a lot more effort than he did in college if he’s going to get minutes in the NBA. He is pretty good at chasing through screens and annoying his man.

For the Magic, this was a pretty important signing because Orlando was simply a better team when Redick was playing instead of Vince Carter. At least with Redick, Stan Van Gundy knew what he was going to get.

Chicago strikes out on Redick, turns to Ronnie Brewer.

Sources confirm Bulls.com report that club has agreed to three-year, $12M deal with Ronnie Brewer. Story soon on NBA.com.

The Bulls needed shooters, but when they extended offers to both Kyle Korver and J.J. Redick, it seemed like the two players were a little too similar. Now that Redick is out of the picture, the Bulls can sign Brewer, who is more of a defensive stopper/slasher type. He was good in Utah and showed a lot of promise, but fell out of favor this season when Wes Matthews started to emerge.

Brewer, Korver and Deng will probably rotate at the wing spots. The Bulls might struggle to score when Brewer/Deng are out there as neither player is particularly good from range. But the Bulls will be running their offense through Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer for the most part.