Amare wants to bring Carmelo Anthony to New York. He has not signed the $65 million extension in front of him from the Nuggets because he wants more out of them -- if he doesn’t get it he could be gone.
No, he’s not.
The Nuggets aren’t going to trade him. He can posture, but he will sign the deal. He is not a guy with a lot of leverage.
First, about that trade idea, no way Denver does that. They are too smart for that. Don’t believe me. Check out what a Nuggets official told ESPN’s Chris Broussard:
Secondly, Melo is going to sign that deal sitting on the table. He says he is undecided, but he’ll sign it. Unless he doesn’t like money.
This year’s max guys are talking about making $1 million or so less over three years whether they sign with the home team or take their skills on the road. (It’s the sixth year of a max deal that is the big boost, the larger raises are not a huge boost the first few years of a six-year deal.)
But if Melo does not sign the three-year, $65 million deal in front of him, he will sign a deal a deal under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. We don’t know what that will be, but you can bet it won’t be great for players coming out of this recession. Max deals will be less, you can bet on it. (Yes, I know, I saw what teams are signing the Amir Johnson’s of the world for, but nobody thinks there will not be some give back by the unions in the new deal.)
So Melo can sign the $65 million now and have that grandfathered in, made max money for three years. Or, he can bet the players will be better off under the new CBA. Exactly. He signs.
Carmelo Anthony is a Nugget. Get used to it. He’s going nowhere for a while.