Simple questions like these are usually dismissed with simple answers and they fail to fulfill the actual intent of the question, which is to garner an explanation or discussion. That's why, each week, I will ask a stupid question that I think deserves an honest explanation and, because I enjoy having one-sided conversations with myself, I'll offer up my own takes on the matter at hand(and you, the five or six loyal readers left in the world, can offer up your thoughts.).
Dumb Honest Question of the Week: Is Carmelo Anthony Getting Traded?
A month ago, you probably would have responded to this with a resounding yes. Now that the Nets have said they pulled out of the 'Melo Sweepstakes? Not as certain. I've been saying for months that Denver's best move, if they intend on getting something for Anthony before he departs as a free agent this summer, was to just send him to the Knicks(the one place 'Melo has publicly said he'd agree to go to). Now, it seems like it is Denver's only move. 'Melo's reps have tried to get Chicago back into the discussion, but they won't part with young big man Joakim Noah. Dallas and Houston are in the mix, but I refuse to believe they can offer something MUCH better than what the Knicks can offer(though Houston has Yao's expiring contract and New York's 2012 first rounder. Beyond that? Meh.). None of what is on the table for Denver is as enticing as what New Jersey was going to give up(draft picks, Derrick Favors, Anthony Morrow, and Devin Harris). That offer's dead now.
So, I reiterate......is Carmelo Anthony getting traded?
If the Nuggets aren't happy with what's out there for 'Melo, why trade him? What's wrong with going to 'Melo's handlers and saying "Look, we're not trading him. We're going to make you leave us this summer because we aren't take a deal we don't like to make him happy somewhere else!"? Right now, the Nuggets are the 7th seed in the West(which would pit them against the Lakers if the season ended today). If Denver makes a statement saying "We've tried to make a deal happen for months. We don't like what's out there. We're going to keep Carmelo and take our chances after the season.", doesn't that allow the rest of the team to breathe a sigh of relief and the team can work on making a 2nd half run in hopes that it will change 'Melo's mind. You know why you don't hear anymore trade whispers out of New Orleans about Chris Paul? Because the Hornets went from a lottery team last year to the last undefeated team to lose this season and are on an 8-game win streak that's seen them blow out Atlanta and San Antonio on back to back nights as well wins against Orlando and Memphis. Winning changes everything. As bad as 'Melo wants to play his home games in the Garden, he'd be a fool to think that the Knicks team he'd join now would be anywhere near as good as the Nuggets team he's currently on. If at the end of the season, 'Melo still wants New York. So be it, but the Nuggets have to make a decision. No more sitting on the fence hoping someone magically caves to their demands. The Bulls don't need Carmelo. Neither does Dallas. So, you're left with choosing behind these two options:
Door #1: You accept the Knicks offer of some kind of combination of Danilo Gallinari, Landry Fields, Wilson Chandler and their 2014 first rounder(unless they can get a more current pick in exchange for Anthony Randolph). Obviously, it's not as good as the Nets' offer but, unlike New Jersey's offer, this one is still on the table. Gallinari is a decent enough shooter to have a role on this team. Chandler provides good versatility as a combo forward who can play three positions. Fields is feisty guard who can be a spark off the bench. As for the 2014 pick, you never know what that may turn into. As for Houston and Dallas? Given the Nuggets' persistence to get back at least something resembling a building block in exchange for 'Melo, I can't see them not asking for either Luis Scola from the Rockets or Rodrigue Beaubois from the Mavs(in both cases, I see Denver getting hung up on, especially since 'Melo won't re-sign with either of them). Unless, you're swapping 'Melo for some expirings and draft picks and I'm not sure that's a better offer than New York's(even with Houston holding the Knicks' first rounder next year). The Knicks have to be considered the only horse left in the race, and if Denver feels it absolutely has to get rid of Anthony to salvage this season, then they need to strike a deal with Knicks soon.
Door #2: You keep Carmelo Anthony. GMs and front office suits in every sport constantly spout cliches about the damaging effects giving in to a player's demands has on the rest of the team. If the Nuggets give in to Carmelo, who knows if it causes a rippling effect, right? Not only that, but look at what the constant "Is Carmelo leaving?" talk has done to this team. There was the weeks of speculation that Chauncey Billups was accompanying Carmelo to the Garden State, which no doubt distracted Chauncey. There's the obvious overwhelming sense of concern any team has to have when dealing with the possibility of its best player being shipped away at any moment. You've pissed off the fans and now they've turned on the face of their franchise. All of these things are red flags, but they are all fixable. By shutting down shop on the Carmelo Sweepstakes, the Nuggets can focus on this season and remove most of the distractions. You can control the boo birds screaming at Carmelo. That ship has sailed for now. However, by reassuring the other guys on this team that this group will stay in tact for the next four or five months, it removes the potential of uncertainty that has tainted this team all year. On paper, a roster of 'Melo, Billups, Kenyon Martin, Chris Anderson, Nene, J.R. Smith, and Ty Lawson, with George Karl leading them makes Denver a dangerous dark horse heading toward the playoffs. Plus, with the possibility of going anywhere this season shot down for 'Melo, you get the next four months of Anthony going into full-on "Javy Lopez Contract Year Ball Out" mode to try to drive up his value. That has to be worth a shot, right?
There you have it. What seemed like a near-certainty the last few months now boils down to two potential paths for Denver(There's also this scenario proposed by Bill Simmons, which seems way too intriguing to actually happen): Strike the best deal available right now with the team 'Melo's been pining over for months......or don't. No more posturing. No more waffling. Brett Favre isn't running this team. You either shit or get off the pot.
My prediction for how this "Melodrama"(as ESPN has coined for this whole ordeal, which was cute at first but significantly more cheesy as it becomes more and more overused) is this: Having mismanaged this whole situation from the get-go, the Nuggets spite the Knicks(whom they blame for planting the seeds in 'Melo's brain about leaving Colorado) and take a poo-poo platter of picks, Yao's rotting carcass, Shane Battier and either Patrick Patterson or Jordan Hill from Houston. The 'Melo-Kevin Martin-Aaron Brooks trio works for the rest of the season and Houston(which is five games out of the 8 seed in the West), eeks into the playoffs while Denver drops out. After the season, 'Melo tries to build some suspense by flirting with Chicago and maybe even staying in Houston before eventually going where everyone expected him to be three months ago: Teaming up with Amare Stoudemire in New York. From there, 'Melo and Amare start publicly recruiting Chris Paul(a free agent in 2012) and we go through this drama once again in New Orleans as I(a Hornets fan for the past 15 years) pull the rest of my hair out over Paul's inevitable departure. Denver, on the other hand, goes into the tank after Yao inevitably retires and Battier signs elsewhere(for the sake of argument, let's say San Antonio). In a weak draft, Denver gets nothing of significance from their Houston haul. George Karl quits and the Kroenkes clean house with the front office. Denver goes back to not being relevant in the sport of basketball and David Stern jumps for joy as basketball matters again in the Big Apple.
There are always going to be dumb questions that yield dumb answers and, in the end, dumb results. This is just the start of things....and, for the record, I'd pounce on that Clippers deal Simmons proposes in his 'Melo piece if Donald Sterling wants to make a play for Anthony...but, I thought the same thing about LeBron going to the Clippers a year ago. These things never work out the way you think. That's why we ask the questions.
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