In what has become a trend this summer, yet another star player is reportedly leaving his team. This time we have Carmelo Anthony and a report that it is only a matter of time until the Nuggets star is playing for another team.
According to ESPN:
League sources say it is now a matter of when, not if, Anthony and the Nuggets will go their separate ways.
Anthony is weighing whether to sign a three-year, $65 million extension offered by the Nuggets. His dilemma, league sources say, is what affords him the best chance of continuing his career elsewhere. Anthony could sign with Denver and convince the team to then trade him. His other option would be to not sign the extension, thereby forcing the team to move him rather than risk losing him next summer as a free agent.
If you read the report, it seems that whether or not Anthony signs the extension, he is not going to be a Denver Nugget for much longer.
Now before Knicks fans get excited and start thinking about their own Big Three, there is no guarantee that Denver trades Melo. Should he sign the three-year extension on the table, Denver would not necessarily HAVE to get rid of him, they could sit back and wait for a trade that they like or keep him around for all three years and hope he changes his mind.
However, right now Melo holds all the power, and Nuggets execs probably have Kanye playing in their head right now, thinking “No one man should have all that power.” Okay so odds are they aren’t thinking that at all, but the fact is Melo is in control of this situation right now. He could play out his last season and then leave as a free agent with Denver not receiving anything, and he knows that. Even more important, he knows the Nuggets know that, and he has all the chips in this poker game.
The odds are that Melo will not sign the extension unless getting a guarantee that he will be traded, and Denver is most likely scrambling right now to try and get the best deal possible. If you’re a fringe contender, you prepare to make a push for Melo because frankly it’s not every day a guy that can go for 30 a night becomes available.
Personally, I don’t think Melo is a superstar that will lead a team to a title. He is a volume scorer with a high shot rate and low rebounding numbers, so his stats are deceptive. I understand people who look at his per game scoring average and think he’s a superstar, but in a league with inflated numbers thanks to some teams (i.e. the Nuggets) taking a lot more shots per game than 10 years ago, Melo’s numbers make him seem like more of a star than he really is.
That being said, Anthony will be a great pick up for some team, and if this report has any traction, it looks like he will be a great pick up for some team in the near future.
With Bosh/Bron goin to Miami, CP3 looking for a trade and Melo now looking likely to leave Denver, all we can really say is the summer of insanity continues in the NBA.
Belal Abdelfattah comes from a long background in sports writing at the Sports Authority Blog and The Block Radio. You can check out his weekly radio show OSD Radio at http://tinyurl.com/OSDRadio or follow Belal on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/belal_a