Inspired Performances

There were 13 games on the NBA's docket yesterday (Jan. 17, 2010) and a remarkable number of stellar performances from players all across the league -- led by Los Angeles Clippers rookie Blake Griffin, who had a career-high 47 points and 14 rebounds against the Indiana Pacers. Yesterday, of course, was a national holiday commemorating the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., who championed equality and civil rights in the United States. The NBA stars, it seemed, celebrated Dr. King's legacy with their inpired performances. A total of 12 players scored 25 points or more while two registered triple-doubles.

Here are the players and their outstanding lines yesterday:

Blake Griffin, 47 pts., 14 rebs., 3 asts., 1 blk. (LAC def. IND, 114-107)

Amar'e Stoudemire, 41 pts., 6 rebs., 1 blk. (NYK lost to PHO, 121-129)

LaMarcus Aldridge, 37 pts., 12 rebs., 2 stls., 2 blks. (POR def. MIN, 113-102)

Joe Johnson, 36 pts., 5 rebs., 6 asts. (ATL def. SAC, 100-98)

Kevin Martin, 36 pts., 4 asts. (HOU def. MIL, 93-84)

Dwight Howard, 33 pts., 13 rebs., 3 asts. (ORL lost to BOS, 106-109)

Dirk Nowitzki, 32 pts., 5 rebs., 5 asts. (DAL lost to DET, 89-103)

Russell Westbrook, 32 pts., 5 rebs., 12 asts., 2 stls. (OKC lost to LAL, 94-101)

Vince Carter, 29 pts., 12 rebs., 4 asts., *reached 20,000 career pts. (PHO def. NYK, 129-121)

Deron Williams, 28 pts., 11 asts., 2 stls. (UTA lost to WAS, 101-108)

Monta Ellis, 26 pts., 9 asts., 5 rebs., 3 stls. (GS def. NJN, 109-100)

Boris Diaw, 25 pts., 11 rebs., 11 asts. (CHA lost to PHI, 92-96)

Derrick Rose, 22 pts., 10 rebs., 12 asts. *his first career triple-double (CHI def. MEM, 96-84)

Troublesome Trade

ESPN.com aptly called it, "Melo Drama", to describe the complexities which the expected Carmelo Anthony trade out of Denver have taken on. As of this writing, the proposed three-team deal would send Melo and Chauncey Billups of the Nuggets and Richard Hamilton of the Detroit Pistons to New Jersey, which would send Devin Harris, Anthony Morrow, rookie Derrick Favors, Quinton Ross, Ben Uzoh, Stephen Graham and a couple of draft picks back to Denver. The Nets will also be sending Troy Murphy and Johan Petro to Detroit. Broken down, this proposal essentially hopes to provide New Jersey with enough talent around Anthony to win now, Detroit with enough salary relief (Murphy has a $17 million contract expiring this season) and Denver enough resources to rebuild and remain competitive with.

For New Jersey, the gamble is that the trade will turn them into a decent playoff contender with which Melo will want to remain and build a career upon. The free-agent-to-be had previously expressed a desire to play for the New York Knicks but with no progress made by the Nuggets in that direction, Melo seems amenable to a deal to neighboring New Jersey. The Nets, under new owner Mikhail Prokhorov's stewardship, have plans to move the franchise to Brooklyn in a couple of years and they are hoping that that scheme (along with the Russian billionaire's charms) would be enough to get Anthony to sign on their dotted line.

Money, though, is not Melo's primary motivation for moving -- at least, not according to Melo. He wants to be on a team which can contend for the NBA championship soon. That is why, presumably, the Nets have configured the deal to secure former backcourt-mates Billups and Hamilton. But, pundits opine, how much better would the Nets really be with the 34- and 32-year old Billups and Hamilton (respectively) as the starting guards? The pair may have parlayed that winning combination into a World Championship for Detroit -- but that was almost seven years ago (2004) when the two were in the prime of their careers. It is forseeable that the Billups, Hamilton and Melo "Big Three" will steer New Jersey (currently 10-27, 13th in the East) into the Playoffs this season but title contention? Not with Miami, Boston and Orlando ahead of them in the Conference.

Meanwhile, Denver is looking to cushion the impending loss of their franchise star as much as possible. Seeing and learning from the Cleveland Cavaliers experience -- a team which has fallen to the bottom of the NBA following the messy departure of LeBron James -- the Nuggets are trying to collect as much assets as they can in exchange for #15. In fact, the hitch supposedly holding the current deal up is the Nuggets now wanting Al Harrington included in the trade. Experts figure Denver wants to relieve itself of Harrington's remaining four years and $28 million to increase its financial flexibility for the future. This latest addendum was reportedly what kept the deal from going down last Sunday (Jan. 9) -- much to the disappointment, they say, of Nets management.

Nuggets officials reportedly countered by alleging that the Nets as well as other involved figures (agents and Melo's advisers) are leaking information to the press in order to pressure them into signing off on the deal immediately. Allegedly, Denver was so upset with the latest round of "leaks" that they threatened to trash the New Jersey deal and send Melo to the Knicks instead.

All this time, though, Melo and his team aren't exactly sitting pretty, waiting for their prom date. With a lockout looming in 2012 brought about by CBA (collective bargaining agreement) negotiations which promise to reduce the league's astronomical player salaries, Anthony would undoubtedly prefer to sign a guaranteed $65 million today than risk a post-CBA contract that could make him $10 to $15 million less. To get maximum coin, Melo needs to get in on the sign-and-trade, in which Denver hands him the max contract before dealing him to a new destination. All this needs to get done by the NBA's Feb. 24 trade deadline too or it won't get done at all, and Melo and his advisers (CAA and Wild Wild Wes -- the same team that advises LeBron) may not be shown the money.*

*UPDATE and CORRECTION: Melo could also choose to sign his extension with the Nets (or whichever team acquires him in trade) but indications remain that he prefers to go to the Knicks. His option here would be to wait the season out, become a free agent this summer and then sign with the Big Apple. This may be the less-complicated route for Melo -- who could join a winning team which need not give up any significant pieces (like Danilo Galinari or Wilson Chandler) in trade. And it will pair Melo with 28-year-old star Amar'e Stoudemire, who is proving to be the stud (and MVP prospect) that everyone thought he could be. The trade-off here is that he'll probably have to sign for much less money as the Knicks do not have as much salary cap flexibility as the Nets.

But while everyone in the Melo deal tries to avoid duplicating the disaster that was the LeDebacle this past summer, it seems that they are all making an even bigger mess. A proper trade, insiders say, will now take much more time to fashion and it's not inconceivable that the drama stetches all the way to mid-February. No one wants to be on the losing end in this one -- and that may be the problem.