Anthony, Nuggets look ready to part ways

The Nuggets still lose out there though. If they can get some young players and picks for him, they've at least set themselves up for a new rebuilding era.

I do think for Nuggets' sake they should deal him for young players, cap reliefs & picks, I just hope it's pre-extension

He's able to get an extension even if he was traded. I think.

Maybe trade Melo for Deng and Johnson to the Bulls?

Fine by me, but it's far from a realistic scenario, of course. Johnson has probably no trade value whatsoever, and Deng is obviously not the kind of talent (and/or contract) that gets you Carmelo. Perhaps Noah + Deng would get it done, although that would mean us losing the cornerstone of our defense and leave us with only Thomas (a solid veteran big man, but someone who is to small and too old for the job) and Asik (a rookie) manning the middle. That's a steep price to pay, especially if you consider the fact that 25-year old big men who average 11-11-1.5 - all while being emotional leaders of their team - don't exactly grow on trees. Noah-Boozer-Anthony-Brewer-Rose is a starting lineup that could compete with the best in the League; Thomas-Boozer-Anthony-Brewer-Rose (or Asik-Boozer-... or Boozer-Gibson-...) isn't.

Not worth it. They need Noah more than they need Melo.

Talking about being on a different team while still with the Nuggets. If his agents are pushing for a deal, he's obviously involved.

Same with Chris Paul. Play out the season then talk about where you want to be afterwards. Or at least keep it to yourself! That's just my opinion.

Ah, so they should keep the team in the dark, then surprise them in the off season by bolting without the team being able to get anything for them. Like Amare and LeBron did?

The earlier the Nuggets can trade Melo to a team he wants to go to, the more the Nuggets can get back. The longer they wait, the less they'll be able to get because they'll lose any position of power they might have in a Melo deal. Plus an early Melo trade allows them to start moving other parts like Billups.

adding Gibson to the equation instead of johnson and a draft pick?

Just was a bit disappointed in this. Melo is my favourite of the 03 draft class, I would love him in New York because it makes so much sense but I thought he was more loyal to Denver in the sense that he would play out his last year and then leave!

What, and possibly lose out millions in contract amount with a new CBA and even possibly not get paid if there is a lockout?

Yeah, I didn't take the money into consideration.

How is he not honoring his contract?

Talking about being on a different team while still with the Nuggets. If his agents are pushing for a deal, he's obviously involved.

Same with Chris Paul. Play out the season then talk about where you want to be afterwards. Or at least keep it to yourself! That's just my opinion.

Bosh kept it to himself, Raptors would have been better off with a heads up and a trade. Melo may be walking away from his team, but at least he's being honest about it with them and not leading them on (as far as we know).

The earlier the Nuggets can trade Melo to a team he wants to go to, the more the Nuggets can get back. The longer they wait, the less they'll be able to get because they'll lose any position of power they might have in a Melo deal. Plus an early Melo trade allows them to start moving other parts like Billups.

If I were the Nuggets, I would keep Nene and Billups, try to get an impact player for Melo (Josh Smith?), and see what the team can do. It's not like Anthony's a game-changing superstar.

The earlier the Nuggets can trade Melo to a team he wants to go to, the more the Nuggets can get back.

No doubt. Too bad though that the earlier Melo asks for a trade, the more people will shit on his reputation, how he couldn't be loyal and stuff.

With Crawford wanting out of the ATL, how about this trade? The Hawks replace Crawford and get Melo. The Nuggets become a better team (and end both the Melo and JR Smith sagas!)

Not big on Crawford, but Josh Smith would be sweet. Denver would definitely remain competitive with that.

A better team? They're going to play Josh Smith and Kenyon Martin next to each other while expecting Jamal Crawford to be Billups partner-in-epic-offense? After that you're building around Josh Smith.

Maybe this is better: http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachi ... Id=28e5bex

Billups-Afflalo-Smith-Martin-Nene would be the best defensive starting five in the league, and they could always have the new pieces play aside bench players. Is Lawson-Crawford-J. Smith-Harrington-Nene really worse than Lawson-J.R. Smith-Anthony-Harrington-Nene?

None of them are anything I want.

I think Denver is also looking to move Kenyon Martin after settling the Melo problem.

Actually, I don't know if I'd bother unless they can get some young cheap pieces. I'd just let him expire. The deal I suggested above puts them under the cap immediately, assume they snag some picks from it too makes it better. (They could also bail on Billups' option and have more than max space.)

I can't imagine Martin has much value outside that expiring so I don't know what you can get.

The deal you suggested is pretty pointless unless the Nuggets get some picks. Melo will already opt out, so there's no point trading him for expirings. I'd much rather rebuild around Ty Lawson and Josh Smith than Ty Lawson and Carl Landry or Josh Smith signed to a max deal.

If they're able to do my trade, then maybe flip Martin's expiring for a good SF (Deng?), they could still contend for a couple more years, then rebuild. I really don't see them doing any better in 3 years, considering Lawson's their only young player with star potential.

Contend? With Josh Smith and Luol Deng? You can't be serious. [/Pelosi] You also realize that Josh Smith won't be a free agent until like 2013 or something right?

Keep Lawson and Afflalo, Nene until after the lockout. Everyone else goes either when their contract expires or when you can get something good for them. I don't care what you get for Melo, I doubt there's any deal you can get that benefits the Nuggets outside of the space and any picks. So you don't deal him for players with more than one year unless it's a young talent, and you're not going to get a young talent, so might as well just take pieces you can immediately dump. If you shuffled Melo off to a team he wants (in this case the Rockets), that's a side-bonus because players are going to recognize that you made good for him. You get active on Melo now because you can maybe get at least ONE piece for him before the end of the year, after that, you're dumping him at the deadline for space and picks. I don't know what offers are out there, so I can only propose a deal I'm pretty sure you can get. One that'll still be there at the break if the others aren't moved by then. But if there's nothing there, might as well just do it early.

There's no point in mucking around 40-45 wins for five years (or even three) rehashing overpaid non-talent. When you lose your star, and can reboot immediately, you do it. You don't shuffle the deck chairs for years hoping to land a star through luck or non-lottery pick. No, they aren't going to be good, and that's what teams need to accept, the window is closed, so move on instead of being like the Knicks for most of the last decade and hoping the next "blockbuster" deal that shuffles shit contracts and shit players past their prime will finally save you.

Like a Band-Aid. Right off.

But Josh Smith was better than Carmelo Anthony last year, and the Nuggets still won 53 games.

I don't like the Nuggets' offensive dynamic with Deng and Smith. I think Smith is a good player, but I also think he's just starting to find his offensive personality and I don't know that a move to Denver (where the team is trying to replace 30ish points per game) would be beneficial for his mentality. We all bitched about him when he shot too much, and now that he doesn't he's much better off. I think he'd go back to over-shooting in Denver to be honest.

Simmons had a pretty interesting trade on Twitter last night:

Clippers get Carmelo Anthony

Nuggets get Tayshaun Prince (expiring and semi-useful), Al Farouq Aminu, Chris Wilcox (expiring), Minnesota's 2012 #1 (from LAC), and the Clippers' 2011 #1.

Pistons get Chris Kaman and Renaldo Balkman

That would be a good deal. The Nuggets get a boatload of assets, and improve their team. I'd rather have Prince than Carmelo "possession sink" Anthony. Awful awful trade for Detroit though.

Denver wants to send him to the Kings, Wolves or Nets apparently.

Could his request end up back-firing on him?

If he gets sent to Minnesota, I will laugh and jump in joy. Especially if its for Kevin Love. Would love to see Anthony exposed as he leads the Wolves to a 20 win season. Another good idea is Melo for Maggette, since he's basically a poor man's Maggette (albeit younger) anyway, and nobody wants to live in Milwaukee!

That would be a good deal. The Nuggets get a boatload of assets, and improve their team. I'd rather have Prince than Carmelo "possession sink" Anthony. Awful awful trade for Detroit though.

Chris Kaman for expirings is awful?

Ok, it is Pistons faithful Prince but still.. imo the Nuggets would cut them out though and keep Kaman themselves. or trade him for something better.