Via Alah Hahn’s The Knicks Fix:

Kelenna Azubuike, arguably the best fit as shooting guard in this system next to Raymond Felton (for his ability to knock down the three-ball and to lock down on defense), is nowhere near ready for training camp.  From what I’m hearing, the team isn’t expecting him to be available for the start of camp, which opens Sept. 25 at the MSG Training Center, and he may not be ready to play any time soon. This is a big part of why the team signed Patrick Ewing Jr. as the 15th Man.

Azubuike is still recovering from a very difficult injury: a torn patella tendon. He suffered it early last season with the Golden State Warriors and, after surgery and 10 months of rehabilitation, he is still not ready for basketball-related activities. There are even concerns that, considering the severity of the injury, he may not be able to fully recover at all.

Via NY Daily News:

Via azcentral.com:

Via azcentral.com:

A surprising starting lineup, with Bill Walker at the 3 and Gallo at the 4.  We thought Anthony Randolph or Turiaf would get worked into the starting lineup, but no.  That said, Gallo looked strong at the 4 on offense, scoring inside and out and hitting the glass.  Thought Felton forced his shot a bit too much, but ran the pick-and-roll to perfection with Gallo.  Amar’e looked a little lost out there, possibly due to playing out of position and feeling undersized.  He had a nice low post bucket, but turned the ball over entirely too much.  Defensively, the Knicks allowed Brandon Jennings and John Salmons to own them.  Gallo and Felton seemed out of position all too often.

Via ESPN:

Sources tied to five potential Anthony suitors, reached in recent days by ESPN.com, all relayed the same story about the Nuggets’ response: They’re pretty much ending these conversations before they even start by saying that they don’t want to engage in Melo talks.

Although one source close to the situation insisted last week that a trade could materialize quickly enough that Anthony “might never wear a Nuggets uniform again,” Denver isn’t obligated to do anything drastic before the February trading deadline.

Anthony would essentially have to be dealt by that point if he continues to refuse the contract extension, lest the Nuggets wind up in July 2011 like Cleveland or Ujiri’s last team in Toronto when LeBron James and Chris Bosh bolted for Miami in Summer of 2010 free agency.

As we’ve been saying for a while, we expect a deal to happen around the February trade deadline, unless the Nuggets are blown away by an offer from a team Melo is willing to sign an extension with.  We just don’t see that happening immediately.  Better for Melo to be the talk of August/September and February (when he finally gets dealt to your New York Knicks!).

Shaun Powell of NBA.com put out a top 10 list of players who appear most vulnerable to a slide in 2010-11. Sitting at the top…

Amar’e Stoudemire (Knicks): He lost Steve Nash and he gained a potentially hostile crowd. Those are the hazards facing Stoudemire in his new digs. The Nash factor is very real; Stoudemire owes a bunch of his highlights to a point guard who excelled in the pick-and-roll and knew how to deliver the ball. As for the New York atmosphere, it might get gruesome should the Knicks falter and/or their new big man fail to meet the steep expectations. If you recall, Stoudemire was a bit touchy last spring when he was called out in the postseason. Therefore, is he too sensitive to deal with media that’s triple the size of what he saw in Phoenix, and twice as skeptical?

Cmon. We’re growing tired of hearing “the Nash factor” killing Amar’e’s chances of success. The guy can finish and Felton should be able to get him the ball. And as for the sensitivity to playing in New York, we’ve seen nothing that says Stoudemire isn’t relishing the opportunity to put this team on his shoulders.

To read the rest of this top 10 list, click here.

To completely disregard in favor of something much more entertaining, click here.

Via Y! Sports:

If Carmelo Anthony wants a trade, new Denver Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri wants to hear the All-Star forward say it himself.

“I want ‘Melo to be a Nugget. The whole city wants ‘Melo to be a Nugget. Ownership wants ‘Melo to be a Nugget,” Ujiri said. “We want to get a good feel from him and let us know how he’s feeling. With this situation, it’s ‘Melo and his life. We have to give the kid the benefit of the doubt. There are some times where he feels down with things, and that doesn’t go our way.

“I’m sure he’s up and down in his mind. That’s obvious. But there is a little bit of patience. Let him come and tell us how he feels.”

Ujiri, however, declined to speculate whether ‘Melo would be in uniform for the start of this season. Nor would he answer in detail whether he was refusing to trade Anthony, saying only, “I don’t know. … I want him to be a Nugget and the city wants ‘Melo to be a Nugget.”

Ujiri is hoping having a healthy Coach Karl courtside will be a key selling point in keeping Melo on board. But with these guys not yet sitting down face to face, this does not appear close to being resolved any time in the very near future.