While a lot of the reports coming out of today’s training camp session were the usual preseason musings about defense first, and who’s the leader, Rafer Alston came forward with a bit of news about the recent reports that he was demanding a trade to the Knicks or Heat because he doesn’t want to be coming off the bench in a contract year.
“You didn’t hear that quote from from me,” Alston told reporters. “It was a weird story. For somebody to put that out there right before camp, I immediately called in (to Kiki) and told them that the story didn’t come from me.”
Keep in mind that this wasn’t exactly an emphatic denial from Rafer. He just denied he was the source of the report in question last week.
Still, it would surprise me to see the Nets trade Rafer unless he really becomes a headache this season. Keyon Dooling’s hip issues are real and may cause him to miss the start of the season. Meanwhile, Devin Harris has never been the symbol of great health. While I understand the Nets are looking to the future this season, a trade of Rafer, with these circumstances in mind, could have potentially catastrophic consequences.
In the meantime, call me only mildly satisfied by Rafer’s response to all this. The recent buzz around Alston is a far cry from earlier this summer where he was coming across as the guy from Orlando who was happy to be here while Courtney Lee was still “hurting.”
