Carmelo Anthony brushed off rumors of trade talks involving him and Blake Griffin, calling the reports “silly and stupid” to gathered media today, including Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). That doesn’t mean that he and Chris Paul wouldn’t like to join forces, Isola notes, and Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com wrote yesterday that their desire to play together hasn’t waned since Paul first raised the idea in 2010. Anthony addressed the latest talk linking him to Paul, pointing out that, “It never happens,” as Isola also tweets. Of course, there’s wiggle room with that statement, too, since Anthony didn’t say it will never happen. As cryptic messages and conflicting reports abound, here’s the latest from the Knicks and their Atlantic Division rivals:
- The Nets believe Brook Lopez will recover fully from the latest surgery on his right foot, but if the procedure designed to make the foot more resistant to injury doesn’t prove successful, the 25-year-old’s career is probably in jeopardy, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
- Patrick Patterson‘s strong play has helped fuel the resurgence of the Raptors following his acquisition as part of the Rudy Gay trade, observes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.
- The Knicks and Clippers are denying that they’ve had internal discussions about an Anthony/CP3 trade, but with the Knicks far adrift from their title aspirations, Keith Schlosser of Knicks Journal thinks New York’s front office should be open to such a deal.
- Tom Moore of The Intelligencer wonders how the Sixers would have fared if they hadn’t traded Jrue Holiday this past summer.