A four-team trade deal that would have moved Carmelo Anthony to the New Jersey Nets fell apart, apparently for a few reasons. One of them was the Nuggets trying to add players to the deal to shed payroll and get below the luxury tax threshold.
But rumors surfaced that the Nuggets thought the Knicks might have tampered with the talks, encouraging Anthony through back channels not to sign any extension so he can sign with New York as a free agent next summer (right after the lockout).
Tuesday the Knicks Donnie Walsh denied that. Marc Berman of the New York Post had the quotes.
“We weren’t [tampering],’ ” Walsh said. “Pretty quickly, we didn’t think they saw a trade with us. We haven’t been that involved in it since. I’ve never heard that before.
“We didn’t do it,” Walsh added. “This is the first I’ve heard of it and I’ve talked to their general manager a couple of times.”
The Knicks leave for games in Europe and Anthony will not be with them. Well, Carmelo Anthony -- but Anthony Randolph will. And he may be as big a key to their future.