2011 NBA Trade Rumors: Things Not so 'Melo in Denver
With the NBA trade deadline a little over a month away, it’s only natural to see trade rumors circulating throughout the league. In particular, there have been the rumors of Nuggets’ forward Carmelo Anthony’s unknown future. Thanks to the various dedicated NBA reporters and willingness of the Nuggets organization to share their trade talks, fans have been given somewhat of a play-by-play of every move made by all the parties involved in the trade rumors.
The primary teams that have been heard through the trade talks are the Nets, Knicks, ans most recently, the Houston Rockets. Every TNT, ESPN, and NBATV analyst has given their two cents worth in regards to where Anthony would fit best and where he will most likely end up playing this season. For this article, I’m going to throw my two cents in as well.
Personally, I feel like the Nets would be stupid to even attempt to woo Carmelo to their sorry excuse for a team. After barely escaping the 2009-10 season with what was almost an NBA record for losses in a single season, the Nets have nowhere to go but up a this point. Unfortunately, they also happen to be stuck in the basement and have a long ways to go before any hope of reaching the upper echelon of NBA teams.
Aside from their recent downfalls, they also lack any players of equal value to trade in exchange for Carmelo. And if they were to trade away their young talent currently on the team, that would leave very little support for Carmelo and erase any hopes of the Nets ever being a legitimate contender any time soon. That being said, if the Nets were to successfully trade for the services of Carmelo Anthony, I would find it very hard to believe that he would agree to sign an extension with the Nets, knowing their future looks rather bleak at the moment.
All things considered, if the Nuggets were to trade Carmelo Anthony, I feel they would be best served to send him to New York to team up with All Star forward Amar’e Stoudemire. Aside from a handful of players such as Raymond Felton and Stoudemire, the Knicks would most likely be willing to trade away any other players the Nuggets would agree to. Also, with Eddy Curry’s salary coming off the books this offseason, the Knicks would have enough money to sign Carmelo to an extension.
This could be a good basketball move for both sides. Carmelo obviously doesn’t want to remain in Denver due to his refusal to sign an extension with the team. The Nuggets should attempt to get some value for him as opposed to losing him in the offseason in free agency. On the other side, this is obviously a good move for the Knicks as they would be adding a another solid superstar to their roster.
Aside from the basketball aspect of the situation, Carmelo’s wife, LaLa Vasquez, is from New York and I’m sure that is in the back of his mind during these negotiations. Many players choose to do what’s best for their families and that just might be signing with the New York Knicks.
It is currently unknown what will happen next in this trade saga, but I believe in the end, Carmelo Anthony will be lacing ‘em up in the blue and orange playing home games in Madison Square Garden.
