Karl, Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Nene and — I’ve decided, upon further review — Martin, Andersen and J.R. Smith have earned one more turn together.
Let’s find out if they can pick up where they left off six months ago and win again. If they can’t, six months from now, people can break up the Nuggets.
Carmelo can be traded.
At the end of the season, Martin and Smith’s contracts will expire; the Nuggets will have the option on Billups’ final year, and Anthony can walk away as a free agent if he’s not been traded by then. Let him go. Don’t burn jerseys. He will have given the Nuggets eight entertaining, controversial and winning seasons.
The Nuggets would be freed of almost $65 million in cap space (and Nene will have only one more season of an $11.6 mil salary) — and could start over, and go sign free agents and draft players in the first round once more. Besides, who knows what will become of the collective bargaining disagreement by then?
Sure, the Nuggets may be a 55-win team when everything goes their way, and maybe they have another Western Conference Finals run in them, but the big question is — are the Nuggets really a threat to the Lakers?
Because I know how this wait-and-see strategy is going to go. In February, the Nuggets are probably going to be somewhere in the #2-#4 range in the West, and they aren’t going to want to trade their best player away. Anthony will be happy because the team is winning and he’s resigned himself to another few months in Denver, and he won’t be talking about free agency.
But when the Nuggets inevitably lose in the playoffs, it will all start up again. At that point, the franchise will have lost whatever leverage they had. They will not be able to get anything (or much) in return because the Knicks will have the cap space to sign him.
So why not get the best deal you can now?
Want good young players? The Knicks have reportedly offered Danilo Gallinari and Eddy Curry’s expiring contract. Would they add Anthony Randolph to the deal if it meant they could lock up Carmelo long-term? I think they would.
Want draft picks? The Rockets could offer Kevin Martin and two first rounders that they got from the Knicks as part of the Tracy McGrady trade. If the Knicks don’t land Anthony, there’s a good chance that both of those will be lottery picks. If it all works out, there’s a chance the Nuggets could add three good players to a core that would presumably include Ty Lawson.
Knowing when to start the rebuilding process is one of the toughest things for a franchise to do and it’s often a painful, confusing process. If the Nuggets don’t trade Carmelo this summer, they may very well come to regret it.
