Donuts: NBA Rumor Roundup

   Let’s first bill a lot of this as what a lot of this is: NBA media tail-chasing. The best example I can give is here with the Vince Carter-to-Dallas rumor. Website A breathlessly links to Website B and even though Website B says the trade is “not imminent’’ – a self-shootdown which doesn’t really make sense because with just six days left until the Feb. 19 trade deadline, everything do-able had better be fairly imminent – Website A nevertheless screams in its headline:

   DONUT 1: Here’s a good way to gauge whether you want Amare: How crappy would you feel if he ended up with the Lakers? I suggested the other day – only half-kidding – that now that Bynum is hurt again, LA is about due to pull off another Gasol deal.

  Odom for Amare?

   DONUT 2: I am finding absolutely no evidence that Dallas is “pursuing’’ Vince Carter while offering Josh Howard. None. I’m not shooting down the possibility of conversations. I’m shooting down the “pursuing’’ part and I’m shooting down the “Vince-for-Josh’’ part. I have a feeling that writers simply keep regurgitating each others’ stories. I mean, there were “sources’’ in one paper saying it on Tuesday and then “new sources’’ saying it to another outlet on Thursday and then “new sources’’ saying again to the first paper on Friday. … I believe it’s all one source and I believe the story is really being generated by one outlet. And then other outlets coattail onto the thing as link bait.

   Ah, journalism. I’m very proud.

   DONUT 3: In a story that shocks nobody expect maybe AP writers covering the NBA’s new rule that limits the number of tattoos a player can have, Terry Porter is apparently packing. Or not.

   DONUT 4: The Bulls are shaking up their suits. Or not.

    DONUT 5: Vecsey notes that the Suns’ Kerr and the Cavs’ Ferry are chums. So maybe Amare to Cleveland?   

    DONUT 6: In fact, how about this report that says Danny Ferry offered the expiring contract of Wally Zoolander, rookie J.J. Hickson and a first-round pick for Stoudemire?

     DONUT 7: We’ve got a big piece coming on this in the next 48 hours or so. … But I’ll tease: There is major, major precedent for the Mavs doing a deadline deal. It’s a precedent having to do with another franchise that generally remains at championship-level. And it’s a precedent that is top-of-mind to the Triangle of Trust. More coming.

    DONUT 8: Using that What-If-A-Mavs-Rival-Did-It? thinking: How about Vince to SA?    

    DONUT 9: A betting man might go with the Kings’ Brad Miller to Dallas. And it’s a smart bet for the Mavs, as long as he comes cheap.

    DONUT 10: Here’s a Bucks-Blazers rumor that shakes up the second tier of both rosters. 

    DONUT 11: An Amare wild card: How about OKC? Depending on what the Thunder would have to forfeit, wouldn’t that club – already featuring Durant – become one of the NBA’s most watch-worthy teams?

    DONUT 12: Marion to Toronto, J.O. to Miami. Done. And it’s only the start.

955am feb 14 2009