SH Blog: Kobe says his two-year contract wasn’t a negotiation, Stoudemire rips Knicks for lack of ball movement

Ian Begley of ESPN New York explains why Los Angeles may not be Carmelo Anthony’s next preferred destination: “According to Coon, if the Lakers remove Harris and Nash from the roster, they will have $28.46 million in cap space. This would allow them to sign Anthony to a max contract (4 years, $96 million) and add a free agent at approximately the mid-level amount, per Coon. They may also be able to use the room mid-level exception ($2.7 million) to sign another player. But that’s it. This scenario would leave Los Angeles with Bryant, Anthony, a first-round pick and two other free agents on the roster. They’d have to fill out the remaining roster spots with free agents willing to sign veteran’s minimum contracts. Would that be enough to entice Anthony to leave New York? The Knicks can offer Anthony a deal that’s one year longer and worth $33 million more than any other team.”

Derrick Williams and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute are soon to be on the move, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (first reported by Marc Stein of ESPN): “The Minnesota Timberwolves have an agreement in principle on a trade that would send third-year forward Derrick Williams to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for sixth-year small forward Luc Mbah a Moute, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the trade had not yet been finalized. If it is to be completed, that will likely take place on Tuesday. Mbah a Moute missed most of the exhibition season with right knee tendinitis, and concerns relating to that injury are still being considered by the Timberwolves.” While Williams had been mostly ineffective in his early NBA years in Minnesota, the Kings — who are 4-9 and were widely known to be seeking ways to improve their roster — are hopeful that he can have the sort of impact that led to him being drafted second overall out of the University of Arizona in 2011.”

For Saturday night’s scuffle between the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers, consequences were suffered, from Amick of USA Today: “The NBA has suspended Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut and Portland Trail Blazers guard Mo Williams one game for their part in a Saturday night scuffle between the two teams, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The Warriors’ Draymond Green and the Blazers’ Wesley Matthews and LaMarcus Aldridge also were fined. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the league had yet to announce the disciplinary measures. The NBA later announced the disciplinary measures and said Aldridge was fined $45,000 while Matthews and Green were fined $20,000 each. The dust-up began when Bogut took exception to the way Blazers center Joel Freeland had pushed his elbow in his back while going for a third-quarter rebound at Oracle Arena. Bogut responded with a right elbow that appeared to graze Freeland’s chin, and Matthews, Williams and Aldridge all came to his defense as the two big men tussled.”
Jason Kidd and Paul Pierce took jabs at each other after their latest loss, from Stefan Bondy of Daily News: “Jason Kidd, who watched his 3-10 squad crumble in the third quarter (again) and fall for the eighth time in nine games, sent a message by benching his entire starting lineup at the beginning of the fourth quarter. But after the Nets got blown out in another third quarter, Kidd got a message back with Paul Pierce seemingly blaming the rookie coach for the team’s struggles after halftime. “We got to understand teams aren’t going to play the same way they did in the first half as they did in the second half because teams make adjustments, especially when they are down,” Pierce said. “And we got to realize that and adjust with that.”… As for the play of the Kidd’s high-priced starters, Kidd said he should have kept Garnett and Pierce on the bench, leaving in Mason Plumlee, Alan Anderson, Tyshawn Taylor, Mirza Teletovic and Tornike Shengelia. (For the casual fans, yes, those are all Nets.) “They deserved to play. I should have let them play the whole game or the whole quarter,” Kidd said after wrapping up a long meeting with GM Billy King and his two assistant GMs, which they conducted in the hallways of the locker room area. “They’re playing, you know, for one another. It’s not perfect but that group that gave us an opportunity by cutting it to eight.”
FIBA has postponed the selection of four World Cup wild card teams until February. Presumably, they are waiting to see if Andrew Wiggins will commit to team Canada. Chris Sheridan called it here.