D'Antoni “Ready for Anything” As ‘Melo Talk Swirls

Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni says he's "ready for anything" as the NBA trade deadline nears and the Carmelo Anthony trade scenarios keep swirling.

"I think everybody is waiting the next three days to see what happens, see the cosmetics, see if it's big," he said Monday. "We're ready for anything but we do business as usual. We're preparing for Milwaukee."

The Knicks return from the All-Star break against the Bucks on Wednesday, less than 24 hours before the trade deadline, not knowing what their roster may look like. Potential trading chips Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov and Wilson Chandler were all at the Knicks' practice Monday.

ESPN reported Monday that Denver could trade Anthony to New York — then turn around and send several former Knicks to his other pursuer, the New Jersey Nets.

Anthony had said he hoped to resolve his future by the end of All-Star weekend while the entire basketball world gathered in Los Angeles. Instead, he remains a Nugget for now.

Asked if he favored trading for Anthony while giving up three starters, D'Antoni said: "We could sit here, debate all day, but I'm not going to do it. It's just not worth it."

Gallinari, whose name has been mentioned ever since Anthony said he wanted out of Denver, said he had not talked to Knicks president Donnie Walsh and D'Antoni.

"We didn't talk about it because it's been getting old," he said. "The same thing for a month, more than that. We're talking about this team, what I should do, what I could do and what's my job, reach our goals. We're not talking about the trade.

"It's tough to leave New York. It's part of the NBA life and it's part of how the NBA works. You got to deal with that."

The Melodrama reached perhaps its most bizarre point Sunday. Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov essentially said at least the Nets drove up New York's price. And the Knicks hierarchy insisted they were unified in their pursuit of the All-Star forward amid reports someone who no longer works for the team — Isiah Thomas — was pulling the strings.

Anthony finally acknowledged meeting with Prokhorov and Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan, saying they were "generic meetings that (the Nuggets) allowed me to take, but nothing specific."