NBA Rumors: Arron Afflalo in Demand

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Afflalo was brought in on a bargain of a deal this offseason and thought to be the long-term solution the Nuggets had been searching for at the shooting guard position since his departure. While he got off to a slow start this season, he’s been playing his best basketball in the month of December. He’s averaging 23 points on 55 percent shooting from the field and 42 percent from distance to go along with 3.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.

Extracting value for Afflalo is complicated by his player option for next year. Teams are going to be hesitant to give up equal value for him if they’re seriously concerned about losing him for nothing in the offseason. The Nuggets are battling that concern themselves as Afflalo’s improvements in 2015 could drive up his price tag and increase his motivation to explore free agency this offseason.

After getting two first-round picks for Timofey Mozgov, the Nuggets have to be realistic in what they try to get for Afflalo. The return they got for Mozgov was exceptional and a result of the Cleveland Cavaliers being zeroed in on bringing him in to be their starting center. Getting two first-round picks for Afflalo would be virtually impossible, especially considering that they go him for a second-round pick and Evan Fournier last offseason when his stock was high coming off of a season with the Orlando Magic in which he garnered All-Star consideration.

Chandler on the other hand should be much easier to deal based off of the fact that he’s under contract for next season and only $2 million of his $7.1 million salary is guaranteed.

There has already been rumblings that Anthony could be shut down after the All-Star break. Despite the Knicks’ struggles this year, he still has been productive enough and has the global popularity to be in position to start in this year’s All-Star game, which is being co-hosted by the Brooklyn Nets and Anthony’s Knicks.

The season is already lost for the Knicks, who are in full-blown tank mode for a high draft pick after sending off Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers for no pieces of note in return.

Anthony was also asked about how the Knicks’ struggles would affect their recruitment of top tier free agents this summer, but he voiced confidence in his ability to still be able to lure guys to the Big Apple.

The Knicks’ fire sale and tanking is far from complete. Along with likely shutting Anthony down soon, they’re also trying to trade Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon.

The Lakers were also one of the teams trying to pry Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green (As a duo, they did not appear to be interested in just Green) away from the Boston Celtics, but ultimately were outbid by the Dallas Mavericks. They are staying true to their promise that they would never tank and intentionally lose, as their trade targets indicate, but there just does not appear to be a market for what the Lakers have to offer. They do have a stable of expiring contracts and the Houston Rockets’ first-round pick in this year’s draft to offer, but there are few teams in the league not capable of matching that offer. As far as Monroe and Jennings are concerned, the Pistons are playing their best basketball right now and are only two games out of the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference and Monroe and Jennings have been stellar during this stretch. Those two aren’t going anywhere, especially not for what the Lakers have to offer.