The Denver Nuggets are out of a three-way exchange in which Charles Barkley could go to the Houston Rockets, according to published reports Saturday.
Sources close to the negotiations told the Houston Chronicle and The Denver Post that the proposed trade among the Rockets, Nuggets and Phoenix Suns unraveled Friday. According to the Rocky Mountain News, the deal is still pending, but "is almost dead."Such a deal would have also sent Robert Horry and Sam Cassell from Houston to Denver, with the Nuggets signing free agent center Dikembe Mutombo and shipping him to the Phoenix Suns.
But Mutombo is waiting to see what free-agent offers are on the table before committing, according to the newspaper. His agent, David Falk, has met with NBA executives at his Washington, D.C., office.
Falk reportedly is asking for $12 million to $14 million in average annual salary for Mutombo, more than what he would have earned had he signed the deal Phoenix was willing to offer him.
The deal leaves the Nuggets with two options: sign Mutombo and keep him or sign him and find another team to take him in a trade. The Nuggets aren't looking to pay Mutombo $10 million-plus, but putting together a viable trade won't be easy.
"It's an economic issue," Nuggets general manager Todd Eley said. "Depending on what the figure is, we would sign and keep Dikembe. Are we in the ballpark at this point? I would say we're still talking."
Several teams have expressed interest in Mutombo. Detroit appears to be the most serious, targeting the center as their No. 1 priority. Reports have pegged their potential offer at five years and $50 million, according to The Post.
Barkley, asked if the three-way deal was dead, said, "I don't know. I don't know. I hope not. I just want the best for the Suns and the best for myself. I'll be glad when it's over."
But the Houston Chronicle said the Rockets still hoped to acquire Barkley by dealing directly with the Suns and working out a trade that would probably require at least three players leaving the Rockets to satisfy salary cap restrictions.