Melo Trade Talk Heats Up

[bloom]

Carmelo Anthony Trade Talk Heats Up

When the reports about New Jersey and Denver discussing possibly trading Carmelo Anthony first came out, they were lightly brushed aside as nothing more than “exploratory talks“. Now, it seems as though things are getting a little more serious.

With the draft lottery taking place tomorrow, the Nets and Nuggets are apparently busy working the phone lines to make a blockbuster trade happen.

Multiple league sources said the Nets and Nuggets have discussed a blockbuster deal that would bring Anthony and Marcus Camby to New Jersey. In return, Denver would get a package that includes Richard Jefferson, Marcus Williams, Keith Van Horn’s contract and the Nets’ lottery pick.

There likely is more involved to make the salaries match up, but the sources said the trade could happen, making Tuesday even more important.
That sound you hear? It’s that of Allen Iverson throwing up in his mouth a little.

Should this rumored trade go through, the makeup of both teams would obviously go through a massive change. And it would take a whole lot to convince Nuggets fans that they got the better of the deal.

source: http://slamonline.com/online/2008/05/carmelo-anthony-trade-talk-heats-up/

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Multiple league sources said the Nets and Nuggets have discussed a blockbuster deal that would bring Anthony and Marcus Camby to New Jersey. In return, Denver would get a package that includes Richard Jefferson, Marcus Williams, Keith Van Horn’s contract and the Nets’ lottery pick.

source: http://slamonline.com/online/2008/05/carmelo-anthony-trade-talk-heats-up/

So...Van Horn's contract isn't guaranteed for this year or next, but I figure that the $4.3M from last year was prorated, so the "team option" would be about $8M, which is basically the required salary offset. This means that the Nets would have to pick up one or two years (probably one) of options on Van Horn to send him - and Van Horn gets another $8M or so for free.

And Denver gets...hurt badly.

Nene/Stephen Hunter
Kenyon/Van Horn/(Najera, FA)
Jefferson/Kleiza
Iverson/(J.R. Smith, RFA)
M. Williams/Atkins/T. Green

along with the #10 (NJN) and #20 (DEN) picks.

Sure, they can try to grab a C prospect with the #10 (DeAndre Jordan, maybe) but they need to win now. Iverson won't last forever. Kenyon won't last, either. Nene has yet to be healthy. Denver goes from building around Carmelo to building around...the aging Iverson?? (who they already have)...and dumps a great defensive center to do so?

This is the team that wouldn't send Kleiza and a first for Artest, but is willing to send their franchise player and a solid center for Jefferson, Williams, and a pick??? I don't buy it.

 

[hrdboild]

I don't know if 'win now' is necessarily the mandate for Denver anymore. They've got to decide now what the foundation of their team is and rebuild around that. The Iverson-Carmelo tandem hasn't been able to win consistently in the regular season or more than one game in the playoffs so far. And while Carmelo is supposedly the young stud in the lineup who you'd expect the team to build around, he didn't show up in the playoffs while Iverson was pretty much the only thing they had going (the other being a surprisingly aggressive and effective Linus Kleiza).

Believe it or not, I called this one before the trade happened and it pretty much turned out how I expected. Well, Philly ended up being better then I expected, but I was right about Denver getting worse. You take one of the best pass-first PGs in the league on a team stacked with shooters and you put in a gunslinger instead, and it's not really surprising that the whole thing falls apart. I'm a big Iverson fan, he's fun to watch, but he wasn't right for that team. He should have gone to a team that needed scoring. That was pretty much the only thing Denver didn't need.

If I were Denver I would be asking myself these questions (1) How many years does AI have left? Is there a realistic window there or not? The guys they have now are not going to get it done so they're going to have to sacrifice more picks and young players to push them over the top if they choose to win now. (2) Can anybody get Carmelo to play defense? If it's just a matter or coaching, then you keep Melo and find someone who teaches defense. If it's not a matter of coaching, I would seriously consider shopping Melo for draft picks and cap space because otherwise you're building yourself into a hole with a franchise player who's always going to be a liability in the playoffs.

Bottom line, I don't think Iverson and Melo can realistically coexist on the same team. They're just too similar in their strengths and weaknesses. Camby is most likely heading for a serious decline and/or more injury issues given his history so it might be smart to sell high on him while they still can. The Artest trade was probably their last shot at playoff relevancy. Their unwillingness to pull the trigger suggests to me which way they're probably leaning on the whole long-term/short-term rebuild issue. I don't think they've committed to the "win now" philosophy which is why the AI trade has put them into such a conundrum. I wouldn't want to be their GM right now. Tough job. Probably a little better than Dallas though.

 

[NewMonkey]

I still don't believe they're going to trade Anthony, and I can't believe THAT deal is the best they could get.

 

[kingsfan916]

wow so Melo for Rj great job Nuggets! trade away your 30ppg 24yr old superstar

 

[Bricklayer]

Hey, whatever they can do to clear time for Linas "Magic" Kleiza, right?

 

[C Diddy]

Carmelo Anthony Trade Talk Heats Up



Multiple league sources said the Nets and Nuggets have discussed a blockbuster deal that would bring Anthony and Marcus Camby to New Jersey. In return, Denver would get a package that includes Richard Jefferson, Marcus Williams, Keith Van Horn’s contract and the Nets’ lottery pick.

Did Kevin McHale and Isaiah Thomas become co-general managers of the Denver Nuggets while I wasn't paying attention?

That deal is awful.

 

[Futuristic]

The Nuggets are panicking at least 1 year too soon. They have a very talented team. They should sign a free agent with their MLE and another with the LLE. See if they can finally get Artest, and go for another run. Also, instead of trading their franchise player away, they might look into finding a defensive oriented coach. Jeff Van Gundy comes to mind.

 

[bloom]

I think Denver would be making a huge mistake to trade Carmelo for those players. The only good thing that Denver would be getting is the draft pick and maybe Marcus Williams. I think if they’d do that deal then Geoff should be contacting Denver; we might have a shot…If Ron doesn’t opt out then him and AI could be an interesting pair. We’d also might be able to get rid of Kenny, a guy who can rebound and isn’t a..um…bad shooter. He can also run the floor.

This goes back to their trade for Iverson. I don’t think it was a good trade, AI has never really been a winner. The problem with Denver is the players they have and the inability to mesh –they’re all over the place. I think it would be a mistake, right now, to trade Melo but if we can get him without giving away our young guys then I’m for it.

 

[kingsfan916]

nuggest need to stop smoking josh howards weed