The Carmelo rumors devolve into chaos

January 12, 2011
by Charlie

All quiet on the trade front now, despite reports over the past few days that the rumored three team mega-trade was near the finish line. With Carmelo guaranteeing he’ll play against the Heat on TNT tomorrow and New Jersey starting a four game road trip tonight, it seems the biggest trade in NBA history and an elusive resolution to the Melodrama isn’t coming anytime soon. However even if the Nuggets and Nets take the first step of agreeing to a trade, it all hinges on the assumption he’ll sign the coveted three-year max extension in New Jersey. The newest round of rumors show that’s far from a sure thing, and opinions are wildly divided on whether or not Anthony intends to allow a New Jersey trade at all.

First, Chris Broussard cites a source who claims to have spoken directly with Melo

I have never heard him, in all the times we’ve talked, say he’s willing to go to New Jersey. Not once. Personally, I would be stunned if he went there and signed an extension.

Adrian Wojnarowski similarly doesn’t confirm anything one way or the other

Anthony has delivered mixed messages on his desire to sign a contract extension with the Nuggets. He’s told two teammates he would ultimately be fine joining the Nets, and pushed his agent, Leon Rose, to help construct a package of players to go to the Nets with him. Nevertheless, Anthony has been wildly back and forth on his willingness to compromise with the Nets over the Knicks.

What seems clear is that once again nobody knows what’s going on, nothing seems to be imminent, and we’re kicked back to a month ago where the will-he or won’t-he gossip takes precedent over any real trade details. While it’s hard to believe the Nets and Nuggets go this far down the road without finalizing some sort of trade , I’m no longer convinced it will bring the long awaited real resolution to this madness.

Additional Links

Chris Tomasson reports that rebuilding or not, George Karl and the Nuggets remain on track towards a 3 year extension for Coach.

As always, ride the emotional rollercoaster at Nets Daily for literally every new link on Melo

Posted on January 12, 2011 at 6:18 pm | filed in Rumors | 4 Comments
  • Mike

    Charlie, are you gonna do the ESPN daily dime game chats too?

    • Charlie

      What’s up Mike, thanks for reading. Jeremy does the DD live chats when he can and right now I’m focused on keeping us current and frequently updated.

  • David H

    I don’t usually go for conspiracy theories, but I’m going to put one out there anyway. Twice now, NJ has been willing to offer a trade that far surpasses anything we could get from anyone else. And twice the Nuggets have been the team to back out. It has occurred to me that Melo might have told the Nuggets that he will only sign an extension with NY (or else he’ll just wait it out until free agency), and that the Nuggets believe him. In that case, the Nuggets would only be talking to NJ in order to scare NY into putting forth the absolute best offer they can. If that’s true, they’ll probably string NJ along right up to the trade deadline, hoping that NY will be frantically attempting to acquire assets the Nuggets might want during that time. The problems with my theory are that NY doesn’t really seem to have the ability to improve on what they could offer right now, and screwing with NJ will make Denver a team that nobody wants to deal with, potentially. But still, if this isn’t what’s going on, I can’t understand why on earth we haven’t jumped on either of NJ’s offers. We really are taking a chance on ending up with nothing, or close to it.

    • ParkHillNative

      How’s this for an even crazier conspiracy theory? Melo is deliberately going back and forth about whether he’d sign with NJ, just so he can drag this out until it’s closer to the trade deadline. Then the deadline comes and much of the Nuggets’ leverage is gone. Melo insists on a trade to the Knicks and the Nuggets suddenly have to settle for whatever the Knicks will offer, or risk losing him at season’s end for nothing.


Array