Carmelo Anthony only has eyes for the New York Knicks. Then again, maybe he will accept a trade to the New Jersey Nets and sign a contract extension, if the circumstances are right. The Denver Nuggets have decided they have to trade their star forward. Or, maybe they have not quite made up their minds about that just yet.
Just what the heck is the deal with the ongoing Carmelo Anthony saga? The only thing certain right now is that this is getting better than a daytime soap opera.
Two stories that are polar opposites regarding Anthony broke today. Yahoo! Sports reported that the Nuggets and Nets are working on a "complicated multiteam trade proposal that would likely fit Carmelo Anthony’s criteria for signing a contract extension with the Nets."
We had previously heard that the Nuggets had finally decided there was no hope that Anthony would sign the three-year, $64-million extension Denver has offered him and that they were resigned to trading him. Only now, reports from Denver seem to indicate the exact opposite.
Don't expect any team to get a Christmas wish and find Carmelo Anthony under its tree. That's because the Denver Nuggets are entering the next phase in their last-ditch effort to try to keep Anthony.
The Nuggets are close to having their full roster intact for the first time this season. And a source said Monday night that Denver has no desire to trade Anthony until it can be seen how the team looks with a full cast.
Yikes! What is going on here, and who should we believe?
Sifting through all the mumbo-jumbo I think it is obvious the Nets desperately want Anthony to become the cornerstone of their rebuilding franchise. It is also brutally obvious that Anthony has reservations about playing for a team that has been a perennial doormat, and is once again this season not very good.
The Nets recently stocked up on draft picks when they dealt away Terrence Williams, and are reportedly trying to bring in enough talent to show Anthony that he would not be carrying the franchise alone.
Can they do enough? That is still the $64 million question, and nobody knows the answer.