I fully expected to be right or wrong when I woke up this morning. Make that, when I got out of bed this morning, since I wasn't able to sleep last night. Of course, I expected the Clippers-Iverson deal to be done, but in the absence of that, I figured I'd be proven wrong, to have another deal announced.
The news from Denver is not encouraging. According to Mark Kiszla and Marc Spears in the Denver Post, the Nuggets are in the driver's seat. All along, it was assumed that Philly wanted 3 things in this deal: a young player, a draft pick, and salary cap relief. But according to the Post, cap space is the overriding factor:
But basically, the conclusion is that Denver is the front-runner simply because they are working the hardest (and possibly talking the most). One other note: the Clippers are listed first in the 'other suitors' paragraph of the Post article, which is a change from yesterday.
In stark contrast, the LA Times has not a single word about Iverson, and only an info box about tonight's game on the Clippers in general. This is strange in the extreme. There's plenty to report on, even aside from an Iverson deal. What is the status of Maggette and Cassell's injuries? Did they practice Thursday? How was the first practice under and extended coach Dunleavy? Hello? Paging Jason Reid! Oh, and it was a slow sports day.
By the way, the Clippers.com probable starters puts Cassell at questionable and Maggette at out. Of course the team could be without Cat tonight, too.
Oftentimes, the more you hear about a particular trade scenario, the less likely it is to happen. Depending on how you look at it, the absence of information about the Clippers may be a good sign.