Franchises and players left in limbo as Denver seeks deal.

Carmelo Anthony's virtual free-agent tour has been strikingly short on theatrics: no self-aggrandizing television show, no parade of executives genuflecting on his doorstep, no cozy backyard interviews with Larry King.

This decision is nothing like "The Decision" that consumed the NBA last summer. Anthony, the disgruntled Denver Nuggets forward, is wary of repeating the mistakes that corroded the public image of his good friend LeBron James.

But then, Anthony is not truly a free agent, just a discontented star who is wielding an opt-out clause to force a trade. This is pre-emptive free agency, and the rules are different. Anthony cannot overtly court or be courted. All he can do is play hard and keep his statements noncommittal.

So far, he has succeeded on both fronts, minimizing any damage to his Q rating. Yet the collateral damage in this interminable drama is undeniable.

At least 12 teams - 40 percent of the league - have been snared in the Anthony intrigue at some point in the past six months. It has rained havoc on lockerrooms in Newark and Detroit, New York and Chicago and, of course, in Denver. More than 20 players - Nets and Knicks, Pistons, Bobcats and Timberwolves - have seen their names attached to a rumored Anthony deal.

To be eliminated from the chase is to find peace.

"The rumors are over," Derrick Favors, the Nets' prized rookie forward, told said last week. "I don't have to worry about them."

Favors and the Nets' Devin Harris acknowledged being unnerved by the reports. The Nuggets' Chauncey Billups, who wants to finish his career in Denver, was also bothered.

The rumors have appeared to take a mental toll on the Knicks' Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari.

The Pistons are still dealing with the fallout from an aborted three-way trade with the Nets and the Nuggets. At the peak of the talks, Detroit benched its onetime star Richard Hamilton, deepening a rift between them.

The failed trade also tarnished the Nets' owner, Mikhail D. Prokhorov, and general manager, Billy King.

Meanwhile, as the Nuggets canvass and re-canvass the league in search of better deals, nothing else is getting done. Teams in the Anthony hunt are hesitant to make even minor deals, knowing they may need their draft picks, trade exceptions and expiring contracts to send to Denver.

The wave of collateral damage claimed another team on Tuesday, with ESPN.com reporting the Los Angeles Lakers could swap Andrew Bynum, their talented young center, for Anthony.

That report, as with so many others, was quickly picked apart and dismissed, classified as a warmed-over discussion from last summer or a means of provoking the Knicks into making a better offer.

Yet the questions now hover over the Lakers. Would they really part with the 23-year-old Bynum, who is one of the top centers in the league? Can they win a third straight championship without at least one bruising 7-footer? Are they so concerned about Kobe Bryant's durability that they feel compelled to add another high-volume perimeter scorer?

If Internet polls are any indications fans say the answer is yes, to all of the above. About 77 percent favored the trade in a poll on ESPN.com's Los Angeles site. An LATimes.com poll yielded similar support.

The Lakers' interest is understandable. Four of their top players - Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher - are over 30. Bryant is in his 15th season. At some point, they will have to replenish the lineup and find a new star to build around.

But giving up Bynum now, as the Lakers make their last run before coach Phil Jackson retires, seems foolish. The Boston Celtics, their finals opponent in 2008 and 2010, are loaded with big men - Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, Shaquille O'Neal and Glen Davis. The Lakers' top rivals in the West, San Antonio and Dallas, are also well stocked.

The Nuggets clearly need the Lakers, or another talent-laden team, to enter the fray and put pressure on the Knicks - Anthony's preferred destination. Donnie Walsh, the Knicks' president, is hesitant to break up his young core, knowing he may be able to sign Anthony this summer.

Walsh has always taken the long view in rebuilding, setting up the Knicks to have cap room in 2010, 2011 and 2012. There is really no desperation to land Anthony, a one-dimensional scorer who fills no obvious need.

The Knicks do have holes at center and in the backcourt, and could find answers in the 2011 free-agent class. Available big men could include Tyson Chandler, Nene and Marc Gasol. Available guards could include Jason Richardson, Jamal Crawford, Aaron Brooks and Rodney Stuckey. They could get two impact players for the same price as signing Anthony.

The 2012 class could include three of the NBA's best players: Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

Committing to Anthony now would shut the Knicks out of free agency for years. Waiting keeps their options open. In today's NBA, there is always another superstar on the horizon and another drama waiting to unfold.