Tag: Denver Nuggets (Page 7 of 22)

      Chris Paul responsible for Nuggets’ unwillingness to trade Carmelo to the Knicks?

      January 13, 2011 /

      The Nuggets’ stance towards the Knicks has been puzzling. They claim that New York doesn’t have the assets they want in exchange for Carmelo Anthony, but a quick look at the roster reveals a few good pieces: Danilo Gallinari, Landry Fields, Wilson Chandler, Anthony Randolph and Toney Douglas, just to name a few. Certainly the Knicks could work with a third team to bring another player into the mix if Denver offered up a list of players/assets that it wanted. But when GM Donnie Walsh has asked for this, the Nuggets have been non-responsive.

      There was a little nugget (no pun intended) from Ric Bucher in ESPN’s Daily Dime which might explain why the Nuggets don’t want to trade Carmelo to the Knicks:

      Stan Kroenke, the Nuggets’ former owner who ceded control to son Josh, is vehemently against dealing with the Knicks after being embarrassed at Anthony’s wedding in Manhattan by talk of his star becoming a Knick…

      Bucher is presumably talking about Chris Paul’s wedding toast, where he allegedly said, “We’ll form our own Big 3,” referring to the possibility that Paul, Anthony and Amare Stoudemire could team up in New York.

      Apparently, that didn’t sit well with the former Nugget owner and that perceived slight has affected these trade negotiations. Bucher goes on to say that the Knicks “can’t offer the Nuggets anywhere close to the same package of building blocks” as the Nets can. Still, it’s interesting that Kroenke still holds a grudge against the Knicks about comments made at a wedding by a player who isn’t even on the Knick roster.

      Not yet, anyway.

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      Carmelo not interested in signing with the Nets?

      January 12, 2011 /
      Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony warms up at the Pepsi Center in Denver on November 16, 2010. UPI/Gary C. Caskey

      Per Chris Broussard of ESPN…

      According to several league sources, Anthony has not told anyone, not even his representatives, that he will sign a contract extension with the Nets.

      One source who has spoken with Anthony since trade talks between Denver, New Jersey and Detroit became public last weekend said the Nuggets forward has never even hinted at signing with New Jersey.

      “He has not agreed to go to New Jersey,” said the source, who speaks regularly with Anthony. “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.”

      Whaa?

      This wouldn’t be a surprise if it were only the Nets and Nuggets talking, but all along Anthony’s agent, Leon Rose, has reportedly been the catalyst behind this trade talk between the two teams. Why would he work so hard to put together a trade if Carmelo isn’t interested in re-upping with the Nets in the first place?

      The natural assumption is that Rose is pushing for a deal with New Jersey because Anthony is amenable to it. But sources say that’s not the case.

      “He [Rose] may want him to go there,” one source said. “But Melo doesn’t want to be in Jersey. He wants to play in New York.”

      I don’t buy it. If Rose and Anthony are on the same page, and one would think they are, then he has to be amenable to playing for the Nets. If Carmelo is so determined to play for the Knicks, then he should just play out the year in Denver and sign with the Knicks during the summer.

      Of course, he’s trying to get his extension and a trade to the Knicks, so if that’s the case, he should tell the Nuggets that the Knicks are the only team that he’ll re-sign with, and that would put the pressure on Denver to get the best deal they can from Knicks GM Donnie Walsh. That would put him in the role of spoiled superstar, which is something he has been trying to avoid by being so tight-lipped about his future.

      But Leon Rose has to know what Carmelo is willing (and not willing) to do, right?

      Right?

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      Nuggets to Nets: Shut up or we’ll trade Melo to the Knicks

      January 11, 2011 /

      Per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports…

      Before resuming trade talks for Carmelo Anthony on Monday, the Denver Nuggets delivered a stern warning to the New Jersey Nets: Unless the public nature of these trade discussions becomes private, be warned that we will send Anthony to the New York Knicks.

      Nothing else the Nuggets could’ve said would send such chills of unease through the Nets, and that’s why Denver made the threat, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

      Would the Nuggets do such a thing out of spite? Would they take a lesser package out of vengeance? No one could be sure, but it sure delivered one more element of drama and intrigue to these trade talks.

      This is an interesting turn of events. Apparently, the Nuggets don’t like feeling the pressure to get this deal done and are intent on taking their sweet time getting the best deal they can. However, to threaten to take a lesser deal (from the Knicks) out of spite is pretty childish, and a slap in the face of the Nugget fan base, which is already having to watch its team crumble before its very eyes.

      I don’t like these long, drawn-out trade negotiations, but the Nuggets have to do what the Nuggets have to do, and let’s not forget that Denver’s new GM, Masai Ujiri, isn’t a salty vet. This is likely the biggest move of his career, so he’s going to be careful.

      Another interesting note from the Yahoo piece:

      The Knicks remain Anthony’s preferred destination, but Ujiri has told Knicks president Donnie Walsh that his team doesn’t have the assets Denver wants. When Walsh has asked Ujiri to provide him with a list of the Nuggets’ desires, whether it be draft picks or specific players from other teams, sources said Ujiri has been unresponsive.

      You’d think that if Ujiri were really trying to get the best possible deal that he’d give a list of assets he’d like to Walsh and see if the Knicks GM could work his magic.

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      Carmelo forcing his way to Knicks?

      December 13, 2010 /
      Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony (L) moves against the New York Knicks guard/forward Landry Fields during the first quarter at the Pepsi Center in Denver on November 16, 2010. UPI/Gary C. Caskey Photo via Newscom

      It became pretty clear once Carmelo Anthony declined to sign the Nuggets’ three-year extension that he wasn’t going to be in Denver next season. The question was when he would leave and where he would go.

      My position has always been that if Anthony went into the season as a Nugget, that it would be tough for new GM Masai Ujiri to trade him before the February deadline since it would essentially signal to the team’s fan base that he was giving up on the season at a point where they’ll probably be comfortably in the playoffs. Without a public statement from Carmelo indicating that he wanted a trade, the fan base could revolt.

      Now, as Chris Sheridan writes, Anthony is making his attentions clear, but he’s not going public…

      Carmelo Anthony has told the Denver Nuggets he will not sign the nearly $65 million contract extension he has been offered unless he is traded to the New York Knicks, a source told ESPN.com on Sunday.

      And while other franchises might be able to make better offers, Anthony will not agree to sign anywhere long-term unless he is dealt to New York, according to the source, who has been privy to private discussions between Anthony, his representatives and the Nuggets organization.

      So who is releasing this information? One would think that to be “privy to private discussions,” the source would have to be a part of Anthony’s camp or a member of the Nuggets. I don’t think that the team would leak this info unless they want to prepare the fan base for a less-than-fair-value trade. More likely, this is Carmelo greasing the wheels for a trade to the Big Apple by putting pressure on the organization to swing a deal.

      For what it’s worth, the Denver Post has sources that refuted Sheridan’s claims:

      A source told ESPN.com that Anthony will sign a three-year, $65 million contract extension only if he’s traded to the Knicks. But on Sunday afternoon, multiple sources refuted this alleged ultimatum to The Denver Post.

      The same piece has a quote from Ujiri that sums it up:

      “I have a special relationship with the kid. It’s been a joy. In your mind, you wish it was different, but the situation is what it is. Yes, I love (Melo) to death, and sometimes you wish it was different. But I have to do my job.”

      “…but the situation is what it is.”

      That pretty much says it all. It looks like ‘Melo will be a Knick (or maybe a Net) by the end of February.

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      Melo says he’s like LeBron, not like Bosh

      November 18, 2010 /
      Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony warms up at the Pepsi Center in Denver on November 16, 2010. UPI/Gary C. Caskey Photo via Newscom

      The Melo Watch continues. The Nuggets are a somewhat disappointing 6-5 to start the season and are no doubt affected by the off-the-court drama involving Carmelo Anthony and his reported desire to play for a contender. In several chats with Peter Vecsey, Anthony compares himself to two of the three major players in last summer’s free agency frenzy.

      “I’m not Chris Bosh,” Anthony declared. “We’re not the same person. What I do will be straight up. Management knows that.”

      “I’m just like LeBron,” Anthony emphasized in the Nuggets’ locker room following Saturday’s practice. “It’s all about winning. That’s all I care about. I want the chance to compete at the championship level. All the other stuff is irrelevant.”

      Bosh has become something of a punchline recently, but Melo’s decision to compare himself to the most reviled star in the NBA is a little puzzling. What Bosh did to the Raptors isn’t any worse than what LeBron did to the Cavs. In fact, you could argue that he handled his departure from Toronto in a better way because there weren’t any allusions that he’d be staying. On the other hand, until the moment LeBron uttered the words, “I’m taking my talents to South Beach…” Cavs fans believed that he was going to stay.

      Maybe Melo was referring to the fact that Bosh has hinted that he wanted to play with LeBron and Dwyane Wade so that he’d get more television exposure or that he can now easily get the NBA League Pass, and by saying “It’s all about winning,” that’s probably the case. But it’s not a good idea to compare yourself to LeBron, not with the way he’s currently reviled in the city of Cleveland.

      I’ve said it over and over — unless the Nuggets are sitting at .500 or below, it’s going to be tough to trade Anthony before the February deadline. It’s hard for management to sell the idea of trading away a team’s star when the team is safely in the playoff hunt. Fans are called fans for a reason — they’re fanatics, and are oftentimes delusional. (Seriously, just check some of the comments from Raptor fans when I insisted that the team should get what they could for Bosh early last season.)

      Unless the Nuggets can somehow bring another star to Denver, they aren’t going anywhere this season, not with one-foot-out-the-door Carmelo leading the way. The best thing would be for the team to struggle early on, allowing both management and fans to realize that the team as it’s currently structured is a lost cause. Maybe then they can move on from Melo and get a few building blocks for the future.

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