[bigboydan]

Denver Nuggets guard Earl Watson, arguably mentioned in more trade scenarios this season than any other player in the league, is headed back to the team that drafted him.


The Seattle SuperSonics, desperate for a defensive-minded point guard as an alternative to Luke Ridnour, will receive Watson, swingman Bryon Russell and a future second-round pick from Denver in a three-team deal. NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com that the trade has been forwarded to the league office for approval before Thursday's 3 p.m. trading deadline.

The Nuggets, after unsuccessful bids to make a splashier move for Ron Artest and then Steve Francis, will instead import Sonics rebounding specialist Reggie Evans, Portland swingman Ruben Patterson and the Blazers' Charles Smith as a salary-cap throw in.

The Blazers joined in on the Seattle-Denver talks in its ongoing quest for salary-cap relief and receive Nuggets guard Voshon Lenard and Sonics center Vitaly Potapenko. Lenard carries an expiring contract ($3.5 million this season) and Potapenko has only one season left on his deal at $3.7 million in 2006-07. With Patterson due next $7 million next season, Portland saves just over $3 million in salary.

Portland, though, was hoping for much more significant savings before Thursday's deadline by sending center Theo Ratliff and swingman Darius Miles to New York for a Knicks package built around the expiring contract of Penny Hardaway. Denver was likewise interested in the financial relief attached to acquiring Hardaway and was prepared to part with Martin, who's in the second season of a seven-year deal worth $90-plus million. The Knicks were interested in bringing Martin back to the Atlantic Division in spite of the former New Jersey All-Star's slow recovery from offseason knee surgery.

Yet those scenarios evaporated when the Orlando Magic held out for Hardaway's expiring contract in Wednesday's Francis deal. No other trades with the Knicks could provide the financial relief Portland and Denver were seeking.

Watson was drafted No. 40 overall by Seattle in 2001 but has struggled for playing time behind Andre Miller and Earl Boykins in Denver despite signing a five-year, $29 million with the Nuggets in the offseason. He has been mentioned in numerous trade scenarios since becoming eligible to be dealt on Dec. 15.

Denver wants Evans to solidify its injury-plagued frontcourt rotation, with Kenyon Martin, Marcus Camby and Eduardo Najera all in and out of the lineup and Nene lost for the season on opening night to a knee tear. Nuggets coach George Karl, meanwhile, has been pushing hard for Patterson, overlooking the eight-year veteran's stormy history in Portland because he craves Patterson's perimeter defense.

[isetcap]

LOL...Hardaway must have felt like it was 1997 again the way that everyone wanted to trade for him! Never before has 2 pts 2 rebounds been so desirable, except maybe the Darko deal.

Seriously, though, the Nuggets made real improvement for this season with this deal. I expect to see better results from them.