Sources close to Carmelo Anthony tell Chris Broussard that he is reluctant to agree to a trade to the Nets, which he can essentially veto by refusing to sign a long-term contract extension with New Jersey.

Anthony, the sources say, is willing to hold out until the trade deadline in an attempt to force Denver to deal him to the Knicks. The thinking is that the Nuggets would accept New York's offer rather than risk losing Anthony for nothing in the summer.

A good start by the Nets, who are now 2-0 on the young season, might change Anthony's mind.

The Nets are hoping to have forward Troy Murphy on the court by next week.

New Jersey acquired Murphy from Indiana in a four-team trade this summer.

Murphy practiced on Thursday and did four-on-four full court scrimmaging afterward. He is recovering from back and groin injuries.

"His next full practice is probably going to be Monday (or) Tuesday of next week and we'll see where he is after that," coach Avery Johnson said.

A source close to the situation tells ESPN that the Nuggets prefer not to trade Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks, who are presumed to be the superstar's preferred destination.

The Knicks continue to pursue Anthony and have tried to enlist the Blazers to facilitate a three-team trade.  So far Portland has made Nicolas Batum off limits in any scenario.

Denver feels that the Nets will keep their offer of Derrick Favors and draft picks on the table through the trade deadline in February.

The Nuggets remain likely to deal Anthony rather than face losing him to free agency in the off-season.

Carmelo Anthony made perhaps his most revealing public comments to date concerning the stalemate between him and the Denver Nuggets.

"They [Nuggets management] want to sit down and talk, but my thing is it?s way beyond this year.  It ain?t got nothing to do with the new GM, Josh [Kroenke], the players. For me, I feel it?s a time for change," Anthony said.

"If I do nothing now, I?m never going to do anything. I feel like my time is now to make a decision if I want to leave or if I want to stay," he continued.

Sources say Anthony is worried about joining a team that has gutted its roster to acquire him, and one source doesn't think he has warmed much to the idea of playing for the Nets.

Anthony has the Knicks and Bulls at the top of his wish list.  Sources say the Knicks don't have the assets to make a credible offer and the Nuggets didn't have a lot of interest in acquiring Luol Deng and his large contract.

Yet the Nuggets are still expected to deal Anthony before the trade deadline rather than risk losing him without compensation next summer.

Anthony continues to maintain that he is not as concerned about money as he is in controlling his destiny.  And he says that he does not dwell on the maximum-salary extension offer from Denver that remains on the table.

"I can?t go out there playing and thinking like that. I won?t be able to be as effective as I can be out there thinking like that," he said.

Alan Hahn cites people with direct knowledge of the situation who insist that Denver still hopes to persuade Carmelo Anthony to sign a extension with the Nuggets.

Denver is reportedly not as high on the Nets' trade offer as some had believed.

"Despite the perceived value of the Nets' offer, I'm also told the Nuggets are not all that enamored with 19-year-old rookie Derrick Favors," writes Hahn.

The Nets are donating $75,000 to a fund to help paralyzed Rutgers' football player Eric LeGrand.

The teams is giving the money to the "Eric LeGrand Believe Fund" to raise awareness of the player's plight.

LeGrand, a junior defensive tackle from Avenel, N.J., suffered a spinal cord injury making a tackle on a kickoff return in a game against Army on Oct. 16.

"We just wanted to find a way to show our support," point guard Devin Harris said.

"The athletic community is a very tight-knit group, and what happened to Eric is something that affects all athletes at every level. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family."

A source with knowledge of Carmelo Anthony's strategy said the superstar is fully prepared to play the entire season without signing a contract extension.

"Carmelo is not afraid to go into next year and test the CBA," said the source.

One factor that could contribute to Anthony's willingness to play out the season is the possibility that the NBA could seek to roll back all salaries, regardless of whether the contract was signed before the new CBA or not.  If so, Anthony would be in the same financial position whether he signs an extension now or waits until free agency.

The franchise-player designation would be a way for the Nuggets to gain additional rights over Anthony they don't currently have.  But Stern himself seemed wary of this concept interfering with players' rights.

"I think that the franchise player is an interesting concept, I?m sure it will come up in collective bargaining," Stern said, "but I think players are entitled to get the benefit of what they bargained for. And the union bargains for free agency, the players serve out a certain contract length .... It?s hard for me to buy your premise that somebody who?s played for a certain number of years, under a contract, and is a free agent is thereby dictating where he?s going to play. He?s exercising his rights."

The Nets have requested waivers on center Brian Zoubek, Nets GM Billy King announced.  Zoubek was signed to the roster on July 1.

Zoubek did not appear in the preseason, missing four games with back pain and four games due to coach's decision.

A source insists that it's just a matter of time before the Nuggets are forced to trade Carmelo Anthony to one of the two New York-area teams.

"It's the Knicks or Nets," the source said. "It's not a matter of if but when."

Whether the superstar forward would agree to a long-term contract extension with the Nets remains the biggest unknown variable of the Anthony saga.

Previous reports from CBS Sports and Yahoo! Sports have indicated that Anthony himself was not sold on playing for the Nets but that the player's agents -- Leon Rose and William Wesley -- were leaning on him to accept New Jersey.

Thursday's report in the New York Daily News claims that Anthony would in fact sign off on a deal sending him to the Nets.  From early on, a group of Nets' beat writers have maintained that Anthony is on board with a trade to New Jersey, or at least that the Nets are confident they can convince him to sign an extension if a trade can be finalized with Denver.

But on October 4, Anthony's own words on the subject seemed designed to give the opposite impression.

"I never said I want to play for the Nets," the Denver Post quoted Anthony saying, after stating that his top priority is to play on a winning team.

The New York Post reported Thursday that Spike Lee has been in regular contact with Anthony whose preferred choice remains the Knicks.

"Carmelo definitely, 100 percent wants to be a Knick," a source said.

Anthony seems to have been prompting the Knicks, through Lee, to complete a trade for him sooner rather than later.

A source with "knowledge of the New York Knicks' thinking" refutes Tuesday's ESPN story that the Knicks have been making significant progress in a potential trade to bring Carmelo Anthony to New York.

The source said there is "no legs to that" report from the Knicks' perspective.

One source insists the Nets have "never been out of the mix" to acquire Anthony, saying that the Nuggets remain interested in Andrei Kirienko, Gerald Wallace or Andre Iguodala in a multi-team deal.

Another source who has been involved in the trade talks continues to believe that the Nets will ultimately land Anthony.