SH Blog: King disputes reports of Brooklyn ‘fire sale,’ Shumpert to miss time with dislocated shoulder

What, exactly, constitutes a fire sale?

That’s the question this Billy King quote raises (via Tim Bontemps of the New York Post):

Nets general manager Billy King knows his team isn’t playing up to expectations, but he isn’t ready to pull the plug.

“My job is to listen to people and to make calls and to make calls back,” King said before the Nets’ 88-70 victory over the 76ers on Friday night at Barclays Center.

“Does that mean we’re having a fire sale? Absolutely not. I’m doing my job, as well as asking the players and the coaches to do their job. But my job is to work the phones, see what’s available.

“If things make sense you make trades. If they don’t, you don’t do it. But we’re not shopping or having a fire sale.”

King’s comments came in the wake of reports Tuesday the Nets had made their three highest-paid players — Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez — available in trade discussions recently after Brooklyn got off to a rough start for a second straight season.

Reading between the lines, here’s what we can infer: The Nets’ top players are available for sale, but they don’t have “For Sale” signs hanging on them. And there’s no fire causing the sale. But there is a sale. Not officially, though. King’s just having discussions about trading them.

Got it?

TYSON CHANDLER BLOCKS MARREESE SPEIGHTS’ SHOE INTO THE CROWD

If you haven’t seen this yet, watch it now. If you’ve seen it already, watch it again.

WHAT IF STEPH CURRY HAD ENDED UP A KNICK?

Harvey Araton of the New York Times digs into the past in this compelling article. Here’s an excerpt:

This is a story that Knicks fans should scorn with every fiber of their tormented souls, but should also be unable to resist, like a chain of rubbernecking drivers easing past a flaming wreckage. Instead of Curry, chosen seventh in 2009 by the Warriors, the Knicks, with the eighth pick, wound up with Arizona’s 6-foot-10-inch Jordan Hill, now with his third N.B.A. team, the Los Angeles Lakers, and, to be fair, averaging a respectable 13.1 points and 9 rebounds a game.

Hill never completed a season with the Knicks, playing in 24 games before being traded to Houston. But Curry has become one of the sport’s most compelling entertainers, often resourcefully unstoppable, and the charismatic leader of a team that has won 20 of its first 22 games, posting the league’s best record.

The Knicks are dealing with the trauma of their worst start in franchise history, with reports surfacing of locker-room discord weeks into the first full season of Phil Jackson’s team presidency.

For Walsh, the most painful part of the episode is that leading into the draft, Curry wanted no part of the Warriors and, assuming he was not going to be drafted higher, pointed to the Knicks as his preferred landing site. Curry refused to so much as visit or work out for the Warriors.

In a telephone interview, Curry’s father, Dell, who played 16 N.B.A. seasons as a sweet-shooting guard, said: “The Warriors had some questionable characters on their team, the Knicks really needed a point guard, and we felt that Stephen would fit perfectly with a coach like Mike D’Antoni, playing that fast, up-and-down style. He loved the idea of playing at Madison Square Garden.”

SHUMPERT OUT AT LEAST THREE WEEKS

Adding injury to insult is this story, via Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com:

Knicks shooting guard Iman Shumpert will be out for at least three weeks with a dislocated left shoulder, the team announced Saturday.

Shumpert dislocated the shoulder in the second quarter of Friday night’s 101-95 win against the Boston Celtics following a collision with Boston’s Jeff Green.

An MRI taken Saturday confirmed the shoulder dislocation. The team said Shumpert will be re-evaluated in three weeks, leaving his timetable to return uncertain.

“We don’t want to jeopardize the remaining part of his season, so we’ll have to see,” Knicks coach Derek Fisher said Friday night, before Shumpert underwent an MRI.

In other injury news, an MRI taken on J.R. Smith’s left foot Saturday revealed a small partial tear of the plantar fascia, the team said. Smith is questionable for Sunday’s game against the Toronto Raptors and will remain day-to-day after that.

EVERYBODY WANTS RAY ALLEN

Allen, though, still isn’t sure he wants to play. He’s certainly not itching to get back on the court, at least according to this report from Shams Charania of RealGM:

Ray Allen — the most coveted NBA free agent on the market — has heard from far beyond just five teams to consider, including interest from the Memphis Grizzlies, league sources told RealGM.

Allen’s agent, Jim Tanner, confirmed the wide range of interest on Saturday and added that the 6-foot-5 shooting guard has no timetable to make a decision on his playing future.

Despite a report on Saturday that he was choosing between the San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards and Golden State Warriors, Allen has not yet reached the stage to decide on any team. Memphis has gone 18-4 this season and has an open roster spot that could be used toward securing another shooter to the rotation.

Earlier in the week, Warriors general manager Bob Myers told 95.7 in Oakland that his team has contacted Allen to gauge interest in signing with the franchise. Nearly every team with contending aspirations is believed to have reached out to Allen and his agent Tanner.

HANNIBAL BURESS SOMEHOW GOT CREDENTIALED TO A CAVS GAME

As a huge fan of both Broad City and The Eric Andre Show (and Hannibal Buress in general), I had to get this in here somewhere.

Via The Big Lead (click through for video):

The New Orleans Pelicans beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night, despite 41 points from LeBron James. After the game, Cavs coach David Blatt spoke to the media. Among the media was comedian Hannibal Buress. What was he doing there? Why was “ESPN” written on his single-game press pass? Seriously, what was he doing there? These are the questions on my mind. What was the question on Buress’ mind?“Even though you guys lost the game, is there still a part of you that thinks, ‘hey man, it’s just a game, life is pretty chill otherwise?’”