Yahoo: Nets moving closer to deal for Anthony

[MYoung23]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-netsanthony092410

The New Jersey Nets are working feverishly to acquire All-Star Carmelo Anthony(notes) and are in the construction stage of a complicated, multi-team trade, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Nothing is imminent in the next 24 hours, but Denver and New Jersey are having ongoing discussions centered on No. 3 overall pick Derrick Favors(notes) and future first-round picks going back to the Nuggets. The two teams are engaging third – and possibly even fourth teams – to complete what one front-office source described as a “very complicated” deal.

One league executive said the Nets believe they’re “getting there” on a trade for Anthony.

The Nets want to get a deal done before Anthony reports to training camp in Denver next week because league officials think the Nuggets will start working to convince him to stay.

The Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks have been Anthony’s preferred contenders, but he’s grown more comfortable with the idea of signing an extension with the Nets, league sources said. Denver refuses to do a deal with the Bulls that doesn’t include center Joakim Noah(notes), and so far Bulls officials have refused to put him into any deal.

Anthony has refused to sign a three-year, $65 million extension with the Nuggets and has made it clear to team officials he’s not comfortable with the franchise’s stability. There’s unrest within the organization, where George Karl’s top assistant, Tim Grgurich, has left, league sources said. Grgurich has told friends he’s angry about the franchise’s refusal to retain former general manager Mark Warkentien. Karl is now without his two most trusted confidants in the organization, Warkentien and Grgurich.

Forward Kenyon Martin(notes) and guards J.R. Smith(notes) and Arron Afflalo(notes) will be free agents after this season and center Nene could join them if he opts out of the final year of his contract. Point guard Chauncey Billups(notes) also could hit the market because the Nuggets are obligated to pay only $3.7 million of his $14.2 million salary for 2011-12 if he’s waived at the end of the season.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the Nuggets, Anthony would like to be traded before the season starts.

 

[Silky Smooth]

I think the Nets are dumb as hell to give up Derrick Favors for Melo even before they see how good Favors is already. The Nets are a young team and they won't win anything anytime soon. I wouldn't make this trade.

 

[PIP]

Good for the Nuggets.. Atleast they get a young lottery pick for their guy... The Nets fell flat on their face this summer with all their money, so this is the contingency plan I suppose... Russian guy has to make a splash...

 

[MYoung23]

http://twitter.com/STEIN_LINE_HQ

STEIN_LINE_HQ

Just filed to ESPN.com: Nuggets in "serious" discussions on four-way trade w/New Jersey, Utah and Charlotte that would make Melo a Net 2 minutes ago via ÜberTwitter

STEIN_LINE_HQ

Proposed deal, according to sources, would bring Derrick Favors, Andrei Kirilenko and multiple first-rounders to DEN for Melo. Link on way 1 minute ago via ÜberTwitter


STEIN_LINE_HQ

Other contracts would surely be added to make such a deal work but current proposal also would send Devin Harris to CHA and Diaw to UTAH 3 minutes ago via ÜberTwitter

 

[theSTEREO.]

Only thing that bugs me about all of this is that all these teams that tanked for years and spit in their fan bases' faces for cap space are getting richly and/or super richly rewarded.

That, and it's pushing the NBA power to the big cities and "big markets" again. Snore....

Bums me out.

 

[catfish]

I think the proped trade is dumb. I think Favors will be good.

 

[Silky Smooth]

I hope Favors turns into Dwight Howard 2.0 to make the Nets look like retards in the next 3 years.

 

[Soda]

I think the Bulls are going to look back and realize that they kept Joakim Noah when they had the chance to get Carmelo. Plain dumb in my opinion.

 

[Marcus]

I think the Bulls are going to look back and realize that they kept Joakim Noah when they had the chance to get Carmelo. Plain dumb in my opinion.

Ah, if only there was a thanks button right now. That is EXACTLY what I thought when I first read that line. I mean, I understand that Noah is one of their core young guys, but come on... how often do you get a chance to trade for a guy like Carmelo Anthony? I think Noah is alright, but he is severely overrated. The Bulls lineup, as constructed, will take them no higher than the 3-4 seed, imo. Melo would be a guy to make them legitimate contenders within the Eastern Conference.

 

[Chich292]

I think the Bulls are going to look back and realize that they kept Joakim Noah when they had the chance to get Carmelo. Plain dumb in my opinion.

Just like how they could have had Kobe if they had included Deng. Bulls will regret this.

Anyways, this is a pretty fair trade for all teams involved. Denver gets their franchise player + picks. Utah swaps Kirilenko for Diaw which is a win. Charlotte gets the PG they need. Devin Harris, SJax, Gerald Wallace, and Tyrus Thomas all starting.. going to be a tough defensive team. The only team that possibly falls short is New Jersey.. they're giving up Devin Harris, Favors + picks for Melo.. I guess it could work.. but we'll see.

 

[Noonan]

I think the Nets are dumb as hell to give up Derrick Favors for Melo even before they see how good Favors is already. The Nets are a young team and they won't win anything anytime soon. I wouldn't make this trade.

Huh? You can't be serious. Melo is a proven commodity. He makes the Nets relevant. We have no idea what Favors is going to be in five years. But the chances of him being equal or better than what Melo is right now are not high.

With that said, screw LeBron for leaving us high and dry. This trade is just a reminder of the kind of talent we could have got back.

 

[Backstage]

This has been one messed up off-season. I wish there was more to say, but honestly, what hasn't been said? Animals running the zoo and all that jazz.

 

[Randolphkeys]

Melo is a front-runner, but Noonan is right that he also happens to be one of the five most talented scorers in the game today in his prime. The Nuggets always seemed to be a very good team that could fall apart at any time due to the chemistry on the team. If Grgs left under bad circumstances, it must be pretty bad. That guy has been an opinionated but consummate professional for several decades.

The Nuggets need to re-tool. LeBron has already shown the league what happens when a star player has one foot out the door in the last year of his contract.

 

[jay_em]

Just like how they could have had Kobe if they had included Deng. Bulls will regret this.

Pretty sure the Bulls would've pulled the trigger on the Kobe deal with Deng included, but Kobe was having no part of playing for a Bulls team minus Luol (and the other pieces needed) and Kobe had that rare no trade clause

 

[tedginnjr]

Carmelo Anthony trade talks heat up

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
Archive
The Denver Nuggets are having serious discussions about a four-way trade that would land Carmelo Anthony with the New Jersey Nets, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations.


Anthony
The proposed deal, sources said, also would involve the Utah Jazz and the Charlotte Bobcats. It would deliver Nets rookie forward Derrick Favors, Jazz veteran Andrei Kirilenko and multiple first-round picks to Denver in exchange for their franchise player, potentially bringing a resolution to Anthony's uncertain future before the Nuggets hold their first practice of the new season.

Sources told ESPN.com that the deal, which has yet to be finalized, also would send former All-Star point guard Devin Harris to Charlotte, with Bobcats forward Boris Diaw moving to Utah.

The four teams, said one source close to the talks, are "seriously engaged" after extensive talks Thursday.

However, one obstacle is Anthony's willingness to sign a contract extension with the Nets. A source told ESPN.com that the Nets will not go through with the trade -- even if Denver is ready to pull the trigger -- unless Anthony commits to signing a contract extension, as Kevin Garnett did as part of the mega-trade that sent him from Minnesota to Boston in July 2007.

Because Anthony has the ability to become a free agent at season's end -- which is the hammer that has enabled his agent, Leon Rose, to apply such pressure to the Nuggets in hopes of forcing a trade before the start of the season -- New Jersey is unwilling to sacrifice assets such as Favors and Harris without a guarantee that Anthony will be there for the long term.

ESPN.com reported earlier this week that Anthony's representatives have been pushing Denver to deal the 26-year-old to New York or Chicago, his two preferred destinations, but the Knicks lack the trade assets required to tempt Denver and the Bulls have consistently refused to make center Joakim Noah available, trying instead to sell the Nuggets on a package headlined by swingman Luol Deng.

The Nuggets have offered Anthony a three-year extension worth $65 million, but he has not signed the deal.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5610989