Nuggets threaten to trade “Melo to Knicks
Before resuming trade talks for Carmelo Anthony on Monday, the Denver Nuggets delivered a stern warning to the New Jersey Nets: Unless the public nature of these trade discussions becomes private, be warned that we will send Anthony to the New York Knicks.
Nothing else the Nuggets could’ve said would send such chills of unease through the Nets, and that’s why Denver made the threat, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Would the Nuggets do such a thing out of spite? Would they take a lesser package out of vengeance? No one could be sure, but it sure delivered one more element of drama and intrigue to these trade talks.
Indeed, the tone of the discussions between the Nuggets and Nets dramatically changed on Monday. Executives went underground with talks, and several agents were frustrated they could no longer get information from the two teams about where the talks stood. Sources still believed the Nets and Nuggets had the framework of a deal, but the talks had retreated from what one source deemed “really close” on Sunday.
Multiple sources involved in the trade said Tuesday they still expect the deal to get done, but probably not in the next 48 hours.
Denver pushed a reset button on the three-team blockbuster as it wanted more payroll relief and seemed determined to find a way to shed themselves of the four years and $28 million left on Al Harrington’s(notes) contract. For a young Nuggets management team under siege, this threat was something of a show of muscle.
The Detroit Pistons remained a partner in the three-team talks and the general mangers – Denver’s Masai Ujiri and New Jersey’s Billy King – worked throughout Monday on solutions, sources said.
The Nets and Pistons believed they had an arrangement in place Sunday that would’ve sent Anthony, Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups and Pistons guard Richard Hamilton to the Nets as part of the blockbuster deal. Once the Nets and Pistons worked out the details of a side component to the 13-player deal on Sunday afternoon, the two teams were surprised to find Ujiri wanting to replace players in the framework of the overall trade, sources said.
Anthony’s agent, Leon Rose, has worked relentlessly to help structure the package of players that will arrive in New Jersey with Anthony.
Nuggets officials were angry with the insinuation they had backed away, insisting they never agreed to a scenario where they would complete the deal. As one Denver official told Yahoo! Sports late Sunday, “People are trying to pressure us.”
Entire article: Yahoo Sports