A reported deal sending Indiana Pacers guard Jamaal Tinsley to the Denver Nuggets for Steven Hunter and Chucky Atkins did not happen, according to a Nuggets team executive.
"It's erroneous," Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien said of the report in Friday's New York Post. "Did Dewey beat Truman?"
According to the report in the Post, the deal was contingent upon Tinsley passing a physical.
But Warkentien emphatically denied that there was anything brewing between the two sides and said he'd been fielding calls from players asking him about the report all morning.
The Indianapolis Star also reported on its Web site that the deal had not happened.
"We're not going to comment on any trade rumors involving our players," Pacers president Larry Bird said through a team spokesperson, according to the Star.
Hunter's agent, Mark Bartelstein, denied his client was involved in the reported deal.
"There's nothing happening with that trade," Bartelstein told The Associated Press.
The motives for such a trade are apparent from each side. It would work under the salary cap, and would have sent two deep reserves from Denver for Tinsley, who presumably would have started at point guard and moved Allen Iverson back to his natural shooting guard slot.
The Pacers, meanwhile, finally would have been able to jettison Tinsley, who was banned from training camp, and the three years and $21 million left on his deal.
Tinsley, who has spent all seven years in the NBA with Indiana, averaged 11.9 points and 8.4 assists during an injury-plagued season last year.
However, the salary consideration and Tinsley's history of injuries and attitude problems had been major stumbling blocks for most potential trade partners. And with the Nuggets in cost-cutting mode, you can apparently add them to that list.
John Hollinger writes for ESPN Insider. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.