NBA Schedule: Nuggets keep winning on the road

No word on how long his resulting suspension will be.

***

No, Tristan. You gotta --

You gotta not --

First of all, it’s interesting that we previously heard of the Knicks’ interest in Dudley, only to have that part shot down by the typically reliable Woj. It seems to suggest that the Suns and/or Dudley are leaking notions of a trade to get those talks started. A straight-up Dudley for Shumpert swap would not work -- Dudley’s yearly salary is more than double Shumpert’s -- so the Knicks would have to pad their package with minimum-salary players to make it an even deal.

New York is thought of as having a short window for success -- hence all the veterans and the maxed-out payroll -- so trading Shumpert, their only developing player, for a more proven commodity may be in the cards. However, while Dudley’s a gifted shooter, he’s probably not enough of a perimeter defender to help the Knicks with their foremost weakness, so the lack of interest makes sense. Even with a draft pick coming back (a draft pick the Knicks would almost certainly trade for a 40 year-old), New York seems unlikely to spring for this one. Then again, you never know with the Knicks.

After a shaky start to the season, the Nuggets have been demolishing teams left and right in recent weeks. Currently riding an eight-game winning streak, they’ve won 21 of their past 27 games to emerge as the current fourth seed in the Western Conference.

Stopping Irving will be key to the Nuggets’ effort, as SB Nation’s Nuggets blog, Denver Stiffs, notes: “If Iguodala and the Nuggets can keep Kyrie to ‘great’ instead of ‘spectacular’, this should be a fairly decisive win.”