Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your bezoar.

Marc J. Spears, Yahoo! Sports: Carmelo Anthony still hopes to persuade the Denver Nuggets to trade him, preferably to either the Chicago Bulls or New York Knicks, an NBA source with knowledge of Anthony's wishes told Yahoo! Sports. The Knicks have limited assets to offer the Nuggets, which makes the Bulls a more appealing potential trade partner. The Bulls can offer a replacement small forward in Luol Deng, as well as two young forwards in James Johnson and Taj Gibson. New York officials would like to make a run at signing Anthony next summer if he were to opt to become a free agent. The Knicks will have salary-cap room with Eddy Curry's contract expiring after the season. While Anthony would prefer a trade to either the Bulls or Knicks, he knows the Nuggets could decide to send him elsewhere. Yahoo! Sports has previously reported that the Los Angeles Clippers, New Jersey Nets and Houston Rockets have expressed interest in Anthony.

AP: Los Angeles Lakers forward Matt Barnes has been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, Sacramento County authorities said Wednesday. Deputies arrested Barnes after responding to what was termed an incomplete 911 call from a residence around 4:16 p.m., according to sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran. Deputies found Barnes and a woman both with visible injuries, but took Barnes into custody after determining he had been the primary aggressor, said Curran. The name of the woman was not released, but she was described as "a woman who lived with him and with whom he had a dating relationship." Barnes was booked into the Sacramento County Jail on suspicion of domestic violence and maliciously obstructing the use of a telephone line. He posted a $50,000 bond and was released. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 13, according to authorities.

Jeff Zillgitt, USA Today: Lack of height was a concern for Team USA entering the FIBA World Championship in Turkey. New York Knicks forward Amar'e Stoudemire couldn't play because of an insurance issue on his $100 million contract. Golden State Warriors forward David Lee couldn't play because he injured a finger during practice in July. Centers and twins Brook (New Jersey Nets) and Robin Lopez (Phoenix Suns) withdrew because of illness and injury. Height will be a serious concern for Team USA for the first time in the tournament when it plays Russia Thursday for a spot in the semifinals (ESPN, 11 a.m. ET). "Their average height is 6-8. They'll be the biggest team that we've played against," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski told sports reporters Wednesday. Coincidentally, the game will be played 38 years to the day of the infamous Olympic classic when the Soviet Union defeated the USA 51-50 for the gold medal in the 1972 Munich Games. The last three seconds of the game were steeped in confusion, and the Soviets ultimately had three chances to win. They did on their final chance. Russia coach David Blatt, a Jewish American who coaches pro ball in Israel, touched a tender nerve when he said the referees and FIBA officials were right in 1972 and the Soviets deserved to win. "The American team was not cheated," Blatt said this week. "Funny things happened, but in reality it was fair." The Americans disagree; the '72 team has never accepted the silver medals. "It will be a negative in the way the U.S. looks at it forever and should be, and it will be in some ways a positive for those who believe in fairy tales," said Krzyzewski, who added he probably was in a field artillery unit in South Korea after graduating from West Point when that game was played.

John Reid, New Orleans Times-Picayune: With a need to improve their depth in the frontcourt, the New Orleans Hornets remain one of the teams in contention to sign free agent forward Louis Amundson, according to his agent Mark Bartelstein. Though training camp opens for the majority of NBA teams in three weeks, Amundson is still unsigned. He was a key contributor off the bench as a power forward/center for the Phoenix Suns, who advanced to the Western Conference Finals last season before losing to the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. "I would say we have had conversations with the Hornets, but I don't want to get too much in specifics involving teams and everything,'' Bartelstein said. "We're trying to move it along and it's a tough decision for him.''

RealGM: Hawks head coach Larry Drew has finalized his 2010-11 coaching staff with the hiring of former pro Nick Van Exel to the position of Player Development Instructor, it was announced this afternoon. Van Exel, comes to Atlanta from Texas Southern University, where he served as an assistant coach. "We're very excited to add Nick to the staff," said Drew. "I think he brings a wealth of knowledge to the position, and given his past experiences, he'll be really vital to the development of our young guards, particularly Jeff Teague and Jordan Crawford. With the staff we currently have on board, I believe Nick will do a tremendous job for us moving forward."

NBA.com: The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have signed free agent guard Mustafa Shakur. Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not released. "Mustafa will be able to give us depth at the point guard position," said Hornets General Manager Dell Demps. "He has thrived in the D-League and has great size and vision for a point guard."

Charles F. Gardner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Max Ergul, who is at the center of a controversy surrounding the recruitment of Turkish center Enes Kanter, played a role as a confidant and adviser to Milwaukee Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova. But Ergul never served as an agent for Ilyasova, according to former Bucks general manager Larry Harris. A Journal Sentinel story published in 2007 described Ergul, who is based in Chicago, as an agent. But Harris, reached by telephone Wednesday, indicated he played a different role. "We had no dealings with him," Harris said, referring to contract negotiations. "He was a friend, helping Ersan make the transition to a new country. He was teaching him how to drive, taking him to the grocery, helping him get accustomed to the U.S." Harris said negotiations were conducted with Turkish agent Tolga Tugsavul when the team was trying to keep Ilyasova under contract in the summer of 2007. Ilyasova eventually signed a two-year deal with Regal FC Barcelona and played two seasons in Spain before returning to the Bucks prior to last season.

AP: Rumeal Robinson, who led Michigan to the NCAA men's basketball championship in 1989 and later played in the NBA, was convicted in federal court Wednesday of borrowing more than $700,000 for a sham business deal and then spending the money on a condominium, expensive furniture and cars. A jury found Robinson guilty of 11 counts, including bank bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and making a false statement to a financial institution. He faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine on each count. A date for sentencing hasn't been set. Among a lengthy list of accusations by prosecutors was one accusing Robinson of scheming to sell his mother's home in Cambridge, Mass., without her knowledge.

The trick behind Carmelo Anthony is that, while so many of his faults and failings or sterling attributes and game-changing work can be looked at in a black and white way, they don't often extend to black and white results.

For instance, Carmelo has long been one of the NBA's more potent scorers, but he's also refused to take advantages of his gifts (a post-up game closer to the basket, a triple-threat position workout that doesn't result in a fadeaway 20-footer) for huge chunks of time, keeping him from consistently threatening to lead the league at the thing he's best at.

But, under George Karl at least, that's never really been the reason Denver falls short in games. Anthony has, for half a decade now, been one of the NBA's top clutch performers, one of its most potent and efficient scorers down the stretch. So he might tick you off by hitting front rim in the third quarter, but he'll win the game for you a half-hour later.

Carmelo Anthony has been a maxed-out player since the 2006 offseason, making huge gobs of money to fall short of coming through with the all-around sort of game you usually get from a LeBron James, Kobe Bryant or Dwyane Wade.

And yet, despite the somewhat-disproportional rate of money handed to Anthony in return for what he gives the Nuggets, he isn't the reason this team's payroll has been a mess for years. No, that would be the insane max contract handed to Kenyon Martin from a few years ago, and the draft picks that went with it. Or the years of paying Allen Iverson over $20 million to play for the Nuggets, something that led to owner Stan Kroenke backing off of the luxury tax over the last few years.

Carmelo? At the very least, he can be accused of terrible judgment. From the "Stop Snitching" appearance to his little slapfest in New York, to driving (quickly) under the influence, to the needless Twitter war with some groupie (geez, if a small potatoes like me can ignore jerks on my TweetDeck, what does it say about the guy with skills, an eight-figure deal and some pretty happenin' old V8s?), Anthony has consistently made poor and public off-court choices.

But they haven't affected his game, or his team's performance, in the slightest. Possibly for two games, when he was suspended to start 2008-09, when the Nuggets lost to the Jazz and beat the Clippers. But that's about it.

Because Carmelo Anthony isn't an all-around player like James, Bryant or Wade, he really hasn't been able to take a playoff team on his shoulders and lead them to a postseason round that they probably don't deserve. You're not going to see Melo grab the defensive rebound, drive coast-to-coast, and then pick up an and-one on the opposing team's big that puts the big on the bench and the Nuggies in the driver's seat, in some pivotal in-game run.

Still, Denver's iffy playoff record was a team accomplishment. They weren't better than the Timberwolves in 2004, the Spurs from 2005 to 2007, and the Lakers in 2008 and 2009. Those Nuggets teams didn't deserve to win, and the fault behind that goes throughout Denver's entire rotation. 2010? Yeah, they might have been better than the Utah Jazz. Probably were. But replacing George Karl with Adrian Dantley was a major step back for the Nuggets, and coaching issues are part of the "team accomplishment," both good and bad.

Carmelo might only score, but 28 points per game is 28 points per game. It's not put together in the most efficient manner, but all those points and the potency behind Carmelo and Chauncey Billups' late-game attack put Denver in a position to win, consistently. The Nuggets need Carmelo Anthony, as his gifts are worth desperately trying to acquire.

But, in a trade to Houston, New York or New Jersey? I'm not so sure.

Even if the deals are more or less one-sided -- Houston sends Kevin Martin, Jordan Hill, and Shane Battier; New York sends Eddy Curry and Danilo Gallinari, New Jersey sends Troy Murphy and Terrence Williams -- do these deals really put the Rockets, Nets or Knicks over the top?

Sure, the Rockets would get better with Luis Scola in his prime and Aaron Brooks working it and Yao Ming coming around. The Knicks fans would swear up and down that this is the next step toward securing Chris Paul (who, mind you, is under contract until 2012). And the Nets would have a pretty fearsome troika with Anthony, Brook Lopez and Devin Harris (and, if he pans out, Derrick Favors). But those teams don't scare me. Maybe New Jersey, if Favors turns into a borderline All-Star. But that's about it.

And, the scary thing for those teams? Anthony could hang around for merely a year.

I don't think he will. Carmelo wants to have his cake and eat it too; meaning he wants to play for a team that isn't in Denver, but he'd like the financial security of a major contract extension that only Denver (or a team Denver could trade Anthony to) could provide. And, as he did in 2006, he'll go for the most money possible. So even if he's traded to another "pretty good" situation like Houston, the Knicks or New Jersey, he'll sign for as long as he possibly can, even if it's with a team that could max out at 55 wins.

Denver, mind you, is under no obligation to make it anyone else's day beyond the Denver Nuggets' day. They could send him to Minnesota, Indiana, or any other team with a far more enticing stable of expiring contracts and young prospects than Houston, New York, New Jersey or (especially) the Los Angeles Clippers could provide.

Whatever the release, wherever the destination, however long his stay with a new team or with the Denver Nuggets, it's still just hard to see Carmelo Anthony being a significant part of a championship contender. A contender to be a contender, sure, because anything can happen in the spring and a team featuring Anthony could surprise its way into the final four or even the finals.

But a team to expect great things from? Hardly. Unless, somehow, Anthony manages a holding plan and we do see Paul somehow skeeve his way to the Knicks. That would be in 2012-13, mind you, because New York would have no other assets to send New Orleans' way that would come near trumping the deals other teams could offer the Hornets.

Because of Anthony's limitations, and because of the team he'd be traded to, this won't be an over-the-top move for either side. Same as it's been in Denver, for so long.

Same as it ever was, with Carmelo. Pretty good, but just not good enough.

Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your biscuits and honey.

Kevin Ding, Orange County Register: Before change comes inspiration. Before inspiration, someone must inspire. Here is Jeremy Lin. Even if in his own mind he's merely just another American kid playing ball, here is Jeremy Lin. He's a somewhat reluctant torch-bearer for race. He has not even begun his NBA career and is trying to pursue his dream his way. His reservations are completely understandable - yet altogether secondary to the greater good. He is already someone to so many, and that's the thing about inspiration: It's not about the one causing the inspiration as much as it's about the effect on many. Quick summary of Lin's recent months: unwanted in the June NBA draft, fortunate to have one offer to take part in NBA summer-league play, absolutely captivating against No. 1 overall pick John Wall in a televised head-to-head matchup and suddenly in position to turn away teams such as the Lakers to accept an offer from his hometown Golden State Warriors for a partially guaranteed contract that half the guys who were drafted couldn't get. Lin will be in the NBA this season. He is not a pioneer, technically: The NBA is unsure of its exact track record, but Japanese-American Wat Misaka was the league's first non-Caucasian player way back in 1947. Raymond Townsend and Rex Walters followed more recently, their stories begun when born to Asian mothers but hard to read from their bi-racial faces. What people see when they look at Lin's face is clear. Asian publications based in New York, Boston and Washington recently dispatched reporters to San Francisco just because Lin was giving a 5-minute speech to a group of basketball campers. What was said to Lin's face by heckling opposing fans during his four years at Harvard was also clear. For the closed-minded, nothing is more frightening than a true game-changer - and Lin has had to carry that burden. Yes, he went to Harvard; no one offered an athletic scholarship despite Lin being a legit 6-foot-3 and honored as the California prep player of the year. He will be Harvard's first NBA player in nearly 50 years. He posted a 3.1 grade-point average while there and has his degree in economics, thank you very much. There's no doubt that among the inspired now are Lin's fellow academics who can only dream of the cool points of being a professional athlete. But any Ivy League grad torn between risking financial insecurity and pursuit of a less conventional dream should be finding inspiration in Lin, too.

Mike Wells, Indianapolis Star: Playing for Team USA this summer is the best thing for Danny Granger. Granger is hopefully using his time playing with Kevin Durant and Co. to learn what he needs to do to improve his game. It's no secret that Granger's defense has regressed the past few years. His lack of defense has been in an even bigger spotlight this summer. Some people thought Granger would end up getting more minutes than Andre Iguodala and Rudy Gay when the team was training in Las Vegas. It's been the opposite. Granger got a DNP-CD in USA's narrow victory over Brazil earlier this week. He's averaging 13.3 minutes a game. Iguodala let's his defense dictate his offense. He gets in the passing lane so that he has an opportunity for easy baskets on the other end. Granger let's his offense dictate his defense. That won't get it done in Turkey and it won't get it done down on Pennsylvania Street. A lot of you will probably blame Granger's defensive problems on coach Jim O'Brien because he has such an offensive mind frame. You can't put it all on O'Brien. You've got to put it on Granger, too. I remember Granger having some fierce battles with Ron Artest long after practice ended his rookie season. The two would go back and forth beating up on each other. Granger wanted to be the best defender. That's not the case anymore. He likes to poke at the ball instead of using his feet to play solid defense.

Tim Povtak, FanHouse: Former Alabama basketball star Mikhail Torrance will be discharged from Sarasota Memorial Hospital in the next few days, continuing his remarkable comeback after an on-court heart attack Aug. 20 left him on life support. Torrance, 21, is facing a lengthy rehabilitation process upon a return to his family's home in Eight Mile, Ala. Torrance regained his ability to speak on Tuesday, only a day after walking unassisted in the hospital for the first time. He was listed as being in stable condition Thursday, although his family is working with the hospital's discharge staff.

Keith Langlois, Pistons.com: His 5-year-old daughter Lexi off to kindergarten, Rodney Stuckey flew back to Michigan from Seattle on Tuesday night and spent Wednesday morning passing out backpacks to underprivileged Michigan kids also about to return to school. Then it was off to school himself - Camp Kander. Stuckey will spend the next four weeks at the Pistons' practice facility working with Arnie Kander getting ready for the opening of training camp. And on Sept. 27, when trainer Mike Abdenour dutifully records all the heights and weights, Stuckey will be curious to know where the needle on the scale will settle. More accurately, he'll be curious to know how much less he weighs since last season ended. "I haven't gotten on a scale yet," he said. "The 27th will be the first time I'll be on the scale. I'm looking forward to (learning) how much weight I lost. It looks like I lost a lot of weight, right? I think I just toned up a lot. My clothes fit a lot different. I've got to poke holes inside my belt because I'm losing a lot of weight. I've just been working hard, staying focused and just working out." There were two areas of focus for Stuckey over the off-season: getting in superb condition so he can walk the walk - he said at various points last season that he wanted to run and do more to force tempo - and making his perimeter shot more reliable. He also took to heart a postseason conversation with Joe Dumars, who told him that while he had been a good player over his first three seasons, "sometimes good isn't good enough." "My main thing was just coming in to training camp in better shape and just get a lot more shots up," he said. "Pretty much what I have to worry about is making my shot more consistent. I think if I do that, I'll be fine."

Jeff Caplan, ESPN: Former NBA guard Dee Brown announced through his Twitter account Thursday night that he is coming to Dallas Mavericks training camp later this month hoping to re-ignite his career. Mavs owner Mark Cuban confirmed that the 6-footer, who last year played for Maccabi Tel Aviv, will be in camp. Brown will come on a non-guaranteed contract. The Mavs have one open spot on the 15-man roster.

NBA.com: The Atlanta Hawks have signed free agent center Etan Thomas, according to Executive Vice President/General Manager Rick Sund. Per team policy, terms were not disclosed. "We're excited to add a player of Etan's caliber to our roster," said Hawks head coach Larry Drew. "He provides additional veteran leadership, physicality and toughness to our club, especially on the glass and the defensive side of the ball. We also add another versatile and multi-positional player to our frontcourt."

Hal Spivack, FanHouse: Led by Oklahoma City Thunder's center Nenad Krstic, Serbia upset a previously undefeated Argentinean team, 84-82, Thursday in Kayseri, Turkey, to claim first place in Group A. With both teams tied at 4-1 with nine points in group play, Serbia's head-to-head victory over Argentina gave it the edge to finish in first. In a tightly contested game throughout, the score was tied 77-77 with 38 seconds left. Unsung hero Dusko Savanovic drained a 3-point shot to give the Serbians an 80-77 lead with 18 seconds remaining. Serbia's Aleksandar Rasic hit four vital free throws down the stretch within the last 10 seconds to clinch the victory. Savanovic finished with 19 points, leading the Serbian national team. Krstic had 18 points and led all players with eight rebounds. Olympiacos star guard Milos Teodosic chipped in with 16 points for Serbia.

Ronald Tillery, Memphis Commercial Appeal: Griz general manager Chris Wallace presented the President of Israel Shimon Peres with a personalized Grizzlies jersey [Wednesday] at the 87-year-old's residence in Jerusalem. Wallace, who is in Israel for a basketball camp, was joined by former NBA players Jerome Williams, David Wood, Allan Houston and Dwight Howard Sr. Sacramento Kings forward and Israeli national team member Omri Casspi was on hand as well. The trip was planned by American pro-Israel lobby AIPAC with the purpose of strengthening American-Israeli relations by introducing leading figures in American sports to Israel and its unique challenges.