Four-Team Trade Featuring Carmelo Anthony Put On Hold
By Josh Dhani
There has been some very exciting news in the past 24 hours. It features progress coming in a possible four-team trade that would send Denver Nuggets’ star small-forward Carmelo Anthony to the New Jersey Nets.
Reported by ESPN.com’s NBA Insider Marc Stein, Anthony would end his seven-year career with the Nuggets to move on to the Nets. Other than the Nuggets and Nets, the four-team trade also involves the Charlotte Bobcats and the Utah Jazz, according to the reports made.
The Nuggets are hesitant about making this deal, according to the Associated Press. The deal would be Derrick Favors, veteran Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko, and two future first-round draft picks in return for Anthony. Meanwhile, New Jersey would deal point guard Devin Harris to the Bobcats. From there, Charlotte would give Boris Diaw up to the Jazz.
Anthony would need to sign a three-year $65 million deal in order for a such a deal to go through.
The deal still is possible and still has life to become possible and go through. The Nuggets are going slow with this and exploring other options very very carefully. However, the frustration continues to build towards the other three teams involved into the deal as they want this acquisition to go through already.
But because of the Nuggets, the deal may have taken a step back.
“Everyone is waiting on Denver, not Melo [committing to an extension],” one source close to the trade talks told ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan.
This trade would meet the requirements the Nuggets would want to make in order to give up their star franchise-player.
The Nuggets want a top, young player, two future first-round draft picks, and a player for cap relief. Derrick Favors would ultimately be the top, young player. Denver would also receive those draft picks and they can use Kirilenko as a cap relief and possibly trade bait. Kirilenko really isn’t wanted in Utah anymore, due to the recent draft pick of Gordon Hayward.
However, multiple sources reported that Anthony still wants to go to his preferred destinations in the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks.
An interesting thing popped up from the ESPN report however. Take a look:
"The Nuggets could also elect to back away and keep Anthony for the short term in hopes that offers get better with time. They’d do so even after new vice president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri and team president Josh Kroenke, according to CBSSports.com, flew to the East Coast earlier this week for face-to-face trade negotiations with the Nets, helping escalate the talks to the brink of a done deal.Pulling out of the deal at this advanced stage could also mean that the Nuggets, even after going this far in trade talks, have not abandoned their hope that it is still possible to convince Anthony to reconsider his desire to be traded elsewhere."
The Nuggets could also try to keep Anthony, as veteran point guard Chauncey Billups and head coach George Karl have been persuading him to stay.
The Nuggets are giving Anthony one last shot at signing an extension. According to several sources, Anthony’s desire to leave Denver has “run deep.”
Anthony is pretty well-suited to joining the Nets. New Jersey will be moving to Brooklyn in the next two years and they have a great staff in Russian billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z. They also have a franchise center in Brook Lopez.
The Knicks are still options, as Amare Stoudemire has been a convincing figure to Anthony. The Chicago Bulls are also out there, as they could trade Joakim Noah. Anthony would fit well with Carlos Boozer and Derrick Rose.
Anthony can also decide to pass on this trade and wait until free agency comes by next year.
All of this has been very interesting.