Carmelo Anthony to Lead the New Jersey Nets to the NBA Championship in 2011?

Trade rumors have swirled around Denver Nuggets superstar forward Carmelo Anthony all season.

Most people thought the New York Knicks would be Anthony’s likely destination, especially after he said he would only sign an extension with the Knicks.

Anthony quickly retracted that statement, saying that he would also be willing to sign an extension with the New Jersey Nets if they were able to acquire enough talent to be seen as threat in the Eastern Conference.

Well, it looks like New Jersey finally finagled a way to do just that.

Rumors of the Nets acquiring Anthony are hot as ever.

The Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets, and Detroit Pistons are in midst of discussing a potential three-team, 15-player trade deal.

Here’s how it breaks down:

The Detroit Pistons would receive Troy Murphy and Johan Petro from New Jersey

The Denver Nuggets would receive Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, Anthony Morrow, Ben Uzoh, Stephen Graham, Quinton Ross, and two first-round draft picks from New Jersey

The New Jersey Nets would receive Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter, and Sheldon Williams from Denver as well as Richard Hamilton from Detroit.

Wow, talk about a blockbuster.

Clearly, the Nuggets probably wouldn’t make the playoffs following such a trade. As it stands on January 10th, the Nuggets are the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference but will most likely continue to free-fall instead of climbing up the mountain.
Detroit is already out of it in the Eastern Conference as that team simply cannot gel together. If the Pistons had any hopes of making the playoffs, acquiring Troy Murphy and Johan Petron is not the way to go.

Let’s take a look at the potential New Jersey Nets rotation:

Chauncey Billups at the point. Clearly an upgrade, but will Billups request a buyout? If New Jersey obliges, the Nets are screwed.

The Nets need Billups to remain with the team. He is still one of the better point guards in the league. In the Eastern Conference, he will be able to exploit some of the smaller point guards.

Carmelo Anthony will remain of the top players in the league. He will still be relied on heavily and would most likely see a peak in his production as he aims to thrive in his new dreads.

Richard Hamilton would reunite with Billups to create an aging but crafty veteran backcourt. Hamilton can still move around the court and is itching to get out of Detroit right now. He would be a great compliment for Anthony.

Kris Humphries has done a surprisingly solid job for the Nets. As even more of an afterthought in this lineup, he could remain the starting power forward and succeed as a role player.

Finally, Brook Lopez rounds out the starting lineup. Lopez is already one of the brightest young centers in the league. He will finally have other great players around him and would thrive with less defensive attention surrounding him.

The Nets would have a decent bench consisting of Travis Outlaw, Shelden Williams, Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic.

All in all, if this trade goes down, the Nets would immediately jump into title contention in the Eastern Conference as far as I’m concerned.

This team would have an excellent balance of youthful exuberance and veteran craftiness with an elite superstar determined to prove just how much he is worth in Carmelo Anthony.

The Nuggets are trying to send Al Harrington to New Jersey in the deal, but the Nets are reluctant because of his contract. At this point, the Nets should not let this hold them up. If they can acquire Harrington, they should be jumping for his services. He would be able to start at power forward over Humphries and stretch the floor even more or, at the very least, he would be one of the top sixth men in the league.

The Nets have a great opportunity to make a lot of noise in the NBA and become a true force to be reckoned with, much like they were in the beginning of the new millennium.

Things are starting to get even more interesting in the NBA.