He said to Sky Sports: “I wasn’t in the least bit interested in entertaining offers, my only focus was and still is to do the best I can for West Ham for the rest of the season in the situation we are in.

“My only priority is to get back to full fitness and do my best on the pitch.

“There has been speculation about my future, however, I am not one to shirk my responsibility.

“I am looking forward to enjoying a good end to the season by producing some good performances to repay the Upton Park faithful.”

Speculation over the future of manager Gianfranco Zola has also been at the forefront of the back-pages, with the club’s takeover by former Birmingham City owners David Gold and David Sullivan – and their expected wage snips – assumed by some to spell the end of the Italian’s tenure.
“I am behind the manager Gianfranco Zola 110 per cent as he has helped me a lot during his time in charge,” Cole said, pledging his allegiance to the pint-sized boss.

Ex-Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has been linked in some reports with the West Ham position.

In the meantime, I’ve spoken to sources connected to the Cavs, the Suns and other teams around the league, and while they confirm that the Stoudemire trade discussions between Cleveland and Phoenix are at a serious stage, they also describe a fluid situation, with trade discussions taking place on multiple fronts.

Here is what I’m hearing as of early Monday:

For the Suns, the Stoudemire-Hickson trade would be something of a last resort. The Suns have been hoping to land more than just Hickson and financial relief for Stoudemire.

In particular, the Suns are still holding out hope that Philadelphia will come to the table and agree to a deal sending Andre Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert to Phoenix. The Suns have sweetened their offer to the 76ers by including Leandro Barbosa in a package with Stoudemire. Also possible is a three-way trade that would send Hickson and Barbosa (along with Ilgauskas) to Philly, Stoudemire to Cleveland and Iguodala and Dalembert to Phoenix.

Expect the Suns to turn up the heat significantly on the Sixers on Monday.

The Miami Heat remain very interested in Stoudemire and are trying to find a third team to help improve their offer to Phoenix. Though Amare is amenable to going to Cleveland, Miami is his first choice.

Meanwhile, Cleveland remain interested in obtaining either Antawn Jamison of the Washington Wizards or Troy Murphy of the Indiana Pacers. According to an official from one of those two teams, the Cavs said on Sunday that a Stoudemire trade was not a done deal and the team was still evaluating its options.

Even if the Cavs get Stoudmire, they might attempt do a secondary trade to obtain Jamison or Murphy to fill the need for a 4 who could stretch the floor with his shooting.

Given that the Cavs have concerns about well Stoudemire and Shaquille O’Neal would fit together, the team would consider moving Shaq if it acquired Amare. For instance, the Cavs could swap O’Neal and their first-round pick to Washington for Jamison and Mike Miller. They could send the same package to Indiana in a deal for Murphy and Mike Dunleavy.

One surprising note: According to a source, Amare’s agent has yet to be contacted by the Cavs. Since Stoudemire has an early termination clause in his contract, it’s possible that Cleveland is willing to acquire Stoudemire without assurances that he will stay with the Cavs beyond this season. Still, one should expect the Cavs to gather some sort of intel on Stoudemire’s wishes.

As has been speculated, if the Suns do acquire Ilgauskas, they would likely waive him, which would open the door for him to return to Cleveland after a 30-day wait.

The NBA’s trade deadline is four Thursdays from today.

In other words: One month away.

And that calls for a few dribbles of trade chatter from various executives, coaches, scouts and league insiders as the trade buzzer draws closer:

The Nets’ willingness to move point guard Devin Harris has been a popular topic since our own Chad Ford included Harris – even with visions of Harris’ 2008-09 breakout season still so fresh – on ESPN.com’s list of 25 prime trade candidates before the league’s Feb. 18 deadline.

Chad subsequently mentioned a possible Harris-for-Caron Butler scenario in a SportsNation chat earlier this week, which was followed by ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher reporting on the NBA Today podcast with Ryen Russillo that the Lakers have inquired about Harris because of concerns about their ability to contain quicker guards defensively.

One source close to the situation, however, cautioned Wednesday night that the Nets do prefer to keep Harris for the rest of this season – specifically through the draft lottery in May at a minimum – before dealing him.

The Nets still regard second-year center Brook Lopez as their only untouchable and are undeniably somewhat dismayed that Harris hasn’t been able to follow up last season’s All-Star appearance with a next-step season.

The Nets, though, also concede that it would be far easier to shop Harris if they know they’ve just won the right to draft Kentucky’s John Wall with the No. 1 overall pick. If they don’t win the Wall lottery, with no other impact point guards forecasted to be available in the draft or through free agency, dealing Harris based on what they’ve seen during this nightmare season might prove to be a hasty call.

The Sixers are only growing more determined to make a deal before the deadline. I’ve heard that in strong terms from three different sources this week already.

Which tells me we should expect to keep hearing more trade scenarios that include Andre Iguodala’s name.

Foiled in its longstanding attempts to move Samuel Dalembert and/or Elton Brand, Philly has apparently come to realize that its best shot at a shake-it-up move is convincing one of the risk-taking/big-spending teams out there – such Houston, Dallas and Cleveland – to absorb the four years and $56.3 million remaining on Iguodala’s contract after this season.

Not that I’d give the Sixers great hope of hooking Cleveland.

The Cavs are still chasing a big man that can stretch the floor with 3-point range and continue to hope they can get one by peddling Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ expiring contract.

Washington’s Antawn Jamison and Indiana’s Troy Murphy remain Cleveland’s top targets – with the further hope that Big Z will be released by his new team and thus eligible to be re-signed after a 30-day wait like Antonio McDyess in Detroit last season — as opposed to pursuing the likes of Iguodala or Golden State’s highly available Corey Maggette.

Iguodala and Maggette have both been known to masquerade at the 4 spot in a small-ball setup but can’t really be classified as power forwards.

The Pistons are suddenly 5-1 since their 13-game losing streak, including Wednesday night’s home win over Boston, but don’t expect them to abandon their efforts to find a big man who can score by offering up old reliables Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton. … Chicago has been quietly looking for a shooter but craves additional salary-cap space for its summer business more than it wants short-term help, so the Bulls keep trying to land an expiring contract in exchange for Kirk Hinrich or John Salmons. … If the Lakers do make a move before the deadline, they will try to do so by moving out Sasha Vujacic and his $5.5 million salary in 2010-11, although they surely know that Adam Morrison’s $5.3 million expiring contract is the one teams would take. Attempts to move Luke Walton (who has nearly $17 million over three years left on his contract after this season) have gone nowhere.

Utah general manager Kevin O’Connor loudly insisted Monday that those of us who presume that the Jazz will do anything they can to get under the luxury-tax line between now and June 30 have it way wrong.

The Dallas Mavericks got the same message when they tested Utah’s resolve early last week.

The Mavs made a long-shot attempt to convince Utah to part with Carlos Boozer by proposing an all-about-money trade that would have provided the Jazz with another sizable chunk of payroll relief to follow up the significant savings from their recent swap with Oklahoma City, ESPN.com has learned.

Yet sources close to the situation say that the Jazz weren’t about to be tempted.

Using Drew Gooden’s partially guaranteed contract and two players it wound up trading to the New Jersey Nets days later – Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams – Dallas could assemble a package of contracts high enough to reach the salary range of Boozer’s $12.3 million expiring contract to make the trade math work … but low enough to net an initial savings of $2.5 million for the Jazz.

Waiving Gooden before last Wednesday — which was the last day he could be released and still clear waivers — would have then sliced another $2.6 million from Utah’s payroll to essentially take the Jazz out of tax territory. It’s believed that the Mavericks also would have been prepared to throw in some cash to help offset the $3.2 million due to Humphries next season.

The Jazz, though, have been telling teams for months that they won’t give Boozer away. A recent slump that dragged its record to 19-17 before Saturday’s thumping win over the Mavs in Dallas apparently hasn’t changed that stance.

As noted in this cyberspace when Eric Maynor and retirement-bound Matt Harpring were dealt to the Thunder in December — which sliced its luxury-tax bill this season from $12.6 million to a much more manageable $4.8 million — Utah set itself up to be a lot more choosy when such attempts to steal Boozer inevitably rolled in.

Since the summer we’ve heard repeatedly that the Jazz want at least one keeper in return in addition to payroll relief if they’re going to consent to a Boozer deal. And that was when their luxury-tax bill was going to approach $13 million.

Now?

ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard reported Monday night that Jazz coach Jerry Sloan is hoping any decision about Boozer’s future is put off until free agency starts July 1.

Sloan’s superiors might ultimately decide they want to move Boozer before the Feb. 18 trading deadline, but they certainly don’t have to if. Instead they might deem a tax payment in July in the $5 million range – even though that’s way more tax than the Jazz want to pay – to be a one-season hit they can absorb to let the current group finish the season.

O’Connor tried to get that across in Monday’s media session when he said: “I think you guys are so focused on the luxury tax. We’re not.” The Salt Lake Tribune’s ever-sharp Ross Siler also quoted O’Connor as saying that the Jazz are not determined to getting under the luxury-tax threshold “at all costs.”

Only that sort of mentality would have led Utah to seriously consider this offer from the Mavs, who are presumed to be out of any upcoming Boozer bidding now.

They’re no longer in a position to pitch the same sort of payroll-relief package because Humphries and Williams became Nets property as of Monday and since Gooden’s $4.5 million expiring contract became guaranteed Jan. 10.

Offering one of its core pieces for Boozer, meanwhile, would appear to make little sense for Dallas. Erick Dampier and Josh Howard both possess what amount to expiring contracts, since neither’s salary is guaranteed in 2010-11, but how could the Mavs part with either one for Boozer when – before we even get to the basketball concerns – they’d have no guarantee of re-signing the free agent-to-be this summer?

The idea that Gooden would be the best player Dallas surrenders in a Boozer swap is one thing. Given Utah’s need to immediately release Gooden to maximize its savings, there might even have been a chance to re-sign Gooden after a 30-day wait.

A hypothetical Howard-for-Boozer swap, by contrast, would obviously force Dallas to surrender one of its two best trade chips for a player who – even if everything clicked offensively – would make the Mavs defensively vulnerable if they tried to finish games with a frontcourt tandem of Boozer and Nowitzki.

While the Houston Rockets realize that trading Tracy McGrady will not be easy, the club now believes it has a better than 50 percent chance of moving the fading superstar by the Feb. 18 trade deadline, according to league executives.

The Rockets are in discussions with several clubs about McGrady, and sources say two of the teams near the top of their wish list are Washington and Chicago.

Nothing is imminent with either team, but there are potential deals with both clubs that Houston would be interested in pulling off.

Washington, which league executives believe is in cost-cutting mode after the Gilbert Arenas disaster, could have McGrady for a deal featuring Caron Butler and some expiring contracts, perhaps Mike Miller and Randy Foye.

Chicago, which has definite interest in McGrady, also has the combination of young talent and expiring contracts the Rockets are looking for. There is a Bulls player Houston covets, but it’s not clear who that is. Since the Rockets surely realize that Derrick Rose won’t be traded, logic suggests it’s Joakim Noah.

A package of Noah, Brad Miller and Jerome James (the latter two have expiring contracts) would work financially, but sources say the Bulls have no desire to part with Noah.

As for the Bulls, Kirk Hinrich is ahead of even Tyrus Thomas on their list of players they’d love to trade. In fact, Thomas is being offered around the league as a sweetener in any Hinrich deal. But with two years, $17 million left on his contract after this season, there’s not a great market for Hinrich.

Believe it or not, sources say Philadelphia has not completely ruled out a McGrady-for-Andre Iguodala deal, if only because if the losing continues, Sixers ownership may order a fire sale.

Talks between the two teams have taken place but they have not reached the serious stage. Philadelphia hinted at a package of Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert for McGrady. But while Houston loves Iguodala’s talent, it’s not sure such a deal would make it a legitimate championship contender. To take back the four years, $57 million remaining on Iguodala’s contract after this season, Houston has to be convinced it would become an immediate title contender once Yao Ming returns next season.

Elsewhere:

+ Several league executives disregarded Minnesota president David Kahn’s proclamations that Al Jefferson is not on the trading block. But two sources who recently spoke with members of the Timberwolves organization said they’ve been told Jefferson is not available. And Kahn has told Jefferson that he will not be traded, according to sources.

There are circumstantial reasons to believe Kahn. Like, why start shopping Jefferson now, when he’s coming off a knee injury and not yet at the top of his game, especially in an economic climate that has few teams willing to take on long-term contracts?

+ Sources from both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Toronto Raptors insist there have been no talks between the two clubs regarding an Andrew Bynum-for-Chris Bosh swap.

The Lakers view the 22-year-old Bynum as a key building block and a player whose best years are ahead of him. And Toronto has thus far been steadfast in its stance not to entertain trading Bosh this season.

Sources say the Raptors will not consider moving Bosh before next month’s trade deadline unless Bosh tells them he definitely will not return to Toronto next season.

Toronto’s Plan A has always been to re-sign Bosh. However, in considering all possibilities, the club has had internal discussions about Plans B and C, which would include trying to get as good a big man as possible for Bosh (if re-signing him was out of the question).

Obviously, Bynum would fit the bill. Still, for now, put this one in the category of fantasy.

+ Having lost 13 straight games, the perimeter-heavy Detroit Pistons would like to get their hands on Carlos Boozer. A Boozer-for-Rip Hamilton trade works, but Utah doesn’t want to take back the three years, $38 million remaining on Hamilton’s contract, even though he’d made a sweet backcourt mate for Deron Williams.

Boozer for Tayshaun Prince also works financially, but Prince has one more season after this one at $11 million, and the Jazz aren’t looking to add salary for next season.

Utah coach Jerry Sloan wants to keep Boozer, who will be a free agent next summer, for the rest of the season, and perhaps beyond. To that end, the Jazz are shopping Andrei Kirilenko with all their might. But good luck with that one. Kirilenko won’t have any takers until next season when he’s in the last year of his deal.