Congratulations on the new gig Masai Ujiri, now go trade Carmelo Anthony and make sure you get us a good deal...
Not sure that was the exact welcoming package for the new Denver Nuggets general manager, but a new report says it may not be far off. And apparently the Nets and Clippers are the frontrunners to be the new team for ‘Melo.
Anthony cannot publicly request a trade unless he wants to pay some very steep fines, so everything is handled through back channels. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo, the master of back channels -- William Wesley -- told the Nuggets in no uncertain terms they needed to move the superstar in an extend-and-trade deal. That Anthony was not going to sign the three-year, $65 million extension in front of him.
Wesley is an employee of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which is also home to Leon Rose, Anthony’s agent. That Wesley did this was long rumored, but not confirmed.
It would explain why soon-to-be owner Josh Kroenke flew out to meet face-to-face with Anthony last weekend. Again, the answer was “trade me or lose me” according to the report.
This wasn’t a productive, nor particularly pleasant, meeting and multiple sources said it could turn out to be the point of no return for Anthony and the organization. Sources insist it’s no longer a matter of if the Nuggets trade Anthony, but when, where and for whom he’s traded for.
“It’s almost a given they’re going to move him,” said a front-office executive who’s talked with the Nuggets and Anthony’s agents with CAA.
Anthony allegedly gave the Nuggets a list of teams where he would sign an extend-and-trade deal. Then owner Stan Kroenke -- father of Josh and the man just approved to be owner of the St. Louis Rams -- told CAA to stop dictating the terms of the deal or he would personally never deal with a CAA player again and would not trade Anthony before the season ended.
The two sides will need to come to some compromise here. While theoretically the Nuggets could trade him anywhere they wanted, no team is going to make an expensive one-year rental of Anthony, they will want him to sign the extension as part of the trade. If Anthony doesn’t sign, the deal would be dead. However the Nuggets could hold on to Anthony and not trade him, likely costing Anthony tens of millions of dollars on his next contract (under a new, likely much stricter collective bargaining agreement).
Both teams have some leverage here. They are going to have to learn to play nice.
The reports says the Nets and Clippers are the front runners because they can provide young players and draft picks to the Nuggets, who would need those things to rebuild. Both also are major media centers that would likely appeal to Anthony’s new bride, actress LaLa Vasquez.
The Nets are now owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, and are playing for two seasons in Newark while a new arena is built in Brooklyn. The team has a good young core, a new coach in Avery Johnson and a new attitude.
It would be interesting to see if Anthony would sign an extension to play for the Clippers. On paper, they have a ton of potential, good young players looking for a star to lead them. But would Anthony trust the prime of his career to owner Donald Sterling?
Lots of questions, but apparently we will get the answer sooner, not later.