Carmelo Anthony Trade Rumors: Does Melo Still Want Trade After 22-Point Win?
Does Carmelo Anthony still want a trade?
The Nuggets whooped the Utah Jazz last night in their season opener. One win probably isn't enough to keep star guard Carmelo Anthony from seeking a trade...if he actually was after one in the first place.
But maybe the aging Nuggets have more gas left in the tank than we all thought. Utah's a pretty good team, that had the sixth-best record in the entire NBA last season.
So does Melo still want out? Here are five reasons why he does, five reasons why he doesn't.
No. 5: Yes On Trade: Being Left Out Of The Superstar Brigade
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The Lakers, Heat, Celtics, and even the Bulls have put together some powerhouse rosters. A young, championship-starved player like Anthony, in the prime of his career, might want to get in on the action.
The Nuggets have a good nucleus of players, like Chauncey Billups and Nene Hilario, but they aren't superstars like the other LeBron has in Miami, Kobe has in Los Angeles, KG has in Boston, or even Chicago has in (take your pick) Derrick Rose or Carlos Boozer.
With the pairing of great players becoming commonplace in the NBA, Anthony might feel his only chance to win is to split the spotlight with another great player. He can't do that right now in Denver.
No. 5: No On Trade: The Weak Northwest Conference
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In the Western Conference, the Northwestern that the Nuggets play in is the worst division. In fact, only the Central in the East is worse.
Leaving Denver would almost certainly mean that Carmelo goes to a team that will have a tougher road to the postseason. Sure, if he goes to a more talented team, he might have a better chance of getting a ring. But that's not such an easy proposition.
What if he does get dealt out East, to a team that is almost certainly going to face Boston or Miami in the postseason. And if he stays in the West, moving to a team like the Suns or Mavs, there is less of a shot at winning the division and earning a top three seed.
No. 4: Yes On Trade: Change Of Scenery
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Kobe is the undisputed king of the Western Conference, the entire NBA really. But out west, Kevin Durant has become the hot new scoring machine and has jumped on his bandwagon.
Melo isn't "forgotten" when the list of best individual players are mentioned: how could he since he averaged 28.2 points per game last season.
But if Kobe and the Lakers have taken a backseat to the Heat and the Wade-LeBron-Bosh trio the last few months, than Anthony is even further pushed to the side.
To re-emerge as one of the league's premier STARS (not just great players, but icons), a new uniform and a new city embracing him might be the best way.
No. 4: No On Trade: He Won't Have To Share The Spotlight In Denver
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Maybe Melo is wired differently than LeBron.
Maybe he doesn't necessarily believe a championship is the be-all, end-all. Or maybe he just thinks the best way to get there is to have one star who is the unquestioned leader and unquestioned best player.
After all, that is the strategy that one him an NCAA title as a freshman at Syracuse.
If Melo were to leave, for a team that features another great player, like for example, the Knicks and Amare Stoudemire, he would have to share the spotlight.
He might not be interested in that, either because of ego or because of basketball strategy.
No. 3: Yes On Trade: Hometown Hero
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Neither the Knicks nor the Nets are a great team to go to if winning a championship now is your top priority. But Melo is only 26 years old. And he hasn't had the type of hype or championship failures that LeBron has experience over the past three seasons.
Anthony can move on to a team like the Knicks or the Nets and BUILD that franchise into a winner. If it takes a few years, he still doesn't turn 30 until the end of the 2013-2014 season.
The possibility of playing in your hometown (the Nets move to Brooklyn, his actual hometown, in 2012) is pretty appealing. It must be to fiancee La La as well. She's from Brooklyn too, and probably will get more movie/TV/music opportunities in Manhattan than in Denver.
No. 3: No On Trade: The Nuggets Are Deep
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Denver doesn't have a the type of multiple Hall of Fame roster that the Celtics, Heat, and (probably) Lakers do.
But that doesn't mean the Nuggets are toothless.
Chauncey Billups, Kenyon Martin, Nene Hilario, J.R. Smith, even Chris Andersen, are a very good group.
They probably won't earn All-Star spots, but with Melo leading the way, they can still win 50 games and you never know what's going to happen in the playoffs.
No. 2: Yes On Trade: A New Contract
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Anthony's contract expires at the end of the season. He will no doubt command a LeBron-like contract at the end of the season. But a trade during the season would allow him to audition another team.
No matter what he's going to get his $100 million. But if he goes now to the Nets or Knicks or whoever, he will most likely be offered a huge contract upfront.
If he likes what he sees, perhaps he'll just end all the speculation. Or maybe he actually wants ESPN to offer him a spot in "The Decision 2: The Sequel."
Hopefully not.
No. 2: No On Trade: George Karl
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The Nuggets finished the 2009-10 season poorly then were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. But not having their head coach George Karl (because of his cancer treatment) really hurt the team towards the stretch run.
A year before, the Nuggets were arguably the best team in the west, matching the Lakers game-for-game halfway through the Conference Finals.
Karl seems to have recovered and is interested in signing a multi-year deal of his own. Granted, Melo and Anthony haven't always been on the same page. But together they have been very good and have never come close to finishing .500 or worse.
Anthony knows that, unless he goes to Boston or Los Angeles, which he won't, he's not going to find a better coach or a better coaching situation.
And since Jim Boeheim convinced Melo to spend at least one season with the Orangemen, maybe he has a thing for middle-aged, full-on bald white guys.
No. 1: Yes On Trade: A Brutal Schedule Ahead
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The Nuggets won the first game they played this season, an impressive 22-point blowout over Utah.
But the schedule makers were not kind to the Nuggets, at least not for the next few weeks.
After road games in New Orleans and Houston, the Nuggets host the Clippers and Mavericks. Trips to Dallas, Chicago, and Phoenix are also to follow, as well as a visit to the Pepsi Center by the World Champion Lakers.
It's not unthinkable that these Nuggets open the 2010-11 season with a 3-7 start. That would greatly increase Melo's desire to be dealt.
No. 1: No On Trade: To Be The Anti-LeBron
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In some ways, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James will always be linked to one another. They were the two top picks in the 2003 Draft (let's forget about Darko Milicic for a minute......Pistons fans would like to).
LeBron bolted in free agency from the team that drafted him. Either to chase a ring, more money, more fame, play with his good friend (Wade) or all of the above.
And although James has been slammed throughout this summer by the press for reasons more complicated than just leaving Cleveland ("The Decision," the "race card," etc.), Anthony must consider what's happened to the once-King.
It's not the same, because Anthony is from New York, not Denver, but Nuggets fans would have to feel betrayed if he leaves as a free agent or forces a trade.
Staying in Denver would make him seem the anti-LeBron, which would only make him more popular in Denver and probably the rest of the country.
Analysis: Will He Leave Or Won't He?
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Anthony has good reasons to stay and probably better reasons to go.
The safe bet is that he'll be traded, and even if he doesn't it's a safer bet he leaves a free agent next summer.
But maybe he'll surprise everyone and decide he wants to finish his career in Denver.
Stranger things have happened.
But don't count on it...the Knicks and Nets should offer him and/or the Nuggets the moon for his services.
