"Earlier this year, after the Godzilla-sized likeness of Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov was long gone from the shadow of the Garden, the Knicks responded with an ad to dig back at the Nets.

"Hey Nets," said a voiceover on the ad. "You can walk like us, you can talk like us, but you ain't never gonna be like us."

Maybe the Nets didn't get the message, because it sure looks like they're trying to be the Knicks. And apparently, they're even failing at that.

With the 28-26 Knicks getting Carmelo Anthony -- and keeping the woeful 17-40 Nets solidly down once again -- the area rivals in New Jersey, league sources said last night, were hoping to trade for two soon-to-be former Knicks, Timofey Mozgov and Raymond Felton, both of whom are headed to Denver in the Anthony deal.

The Nets were looking to send two first-round draft picks to Denver and deal Devin Harris to Dallas in order to receive Mozgov and Felton from the Nuggets plus a first-round pick from the Mavericks.

But Denver general manager Masai Ujiri squashed the notion last night when he told reporters the Nuggets will keep all the players they acquired from the Knicks.

The Nets, who remained erroneously confident throughout the process that they could get Anthony, have other plans in place, but none, obviously, to land a performer of Anthony's ilk.

The NBA trade deadline is Thursday.

One source maintained Prokhorov was presented with five contingency plans by his executives during All-Star weekend and most strategies centered around Harris and Troy Murphy.

One report last night suggested Harris might be going to the Hawks, possibly for Jamal Crawford, another former Knick.

Murphy could be headed to Golden State along with a second-round pick for a pair of big men: underachieving Brandan Wright, the No. 8 overall pick in 2007, and offensively limited Dan Gadzuric, a native of the Netherlands. Gadzuric at least would help the Nets achieve Prokhorov's vision of a global team."