- Jun 24, 2005
- 17,326
- 3,613
I dont see the win difference between all those teams putside the top 2 or3 being far apart.
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One source close to the talks in Melo-to-New Jersey proposed four-way deal: "It either happens by Monday or the deal falls apart."
The Heat passed?Originally Posted by h3at23
WallaceNBAHeat
Heat pass on adding free agent center Erick Dampier to the roster.
BY Stefan Bondy
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Originally Published:Friday, September 24th 2010, 2:57 PM
Updated: Friday, September 24th 2010, 8:19 PM
Zalubowski/AP
Denver Nuggets superstar Carmelo Anthony could wind up with the Nets if proposed four-team trade goes through.
The Nets talked big and hung up a big, boastful billboard above the Garden. That didn't work.
But now, without the hype and unpredictability of free agency, they are on the verge of changing the whole basketball landscape.
According to multiple sources with knowledge of a proposed four-team blockbuster, the Nets are negotiating a deal that would bring them Carmelo Anthony from Denver in exchange for Devin Harris, first-round pick Derrick Favors plus draft picks.
There are some small details that could derail the deal, but Anthony is believed to have signed off on the deal, according to an NBA source, and it could happen as early as Saturday. Anthony's approval was pivotal in the deal because the Nets wouldn't have agreed to it for a one-year rental.
On the day both the Knicks and Nets held their media days, it was the area's wannabe star franchise that was making by far the bigger headlines. Two years before its scheduled move to Brooklyn, general manager Billy King appears determined to one-up his counterpart in Manhattan.
The proposed deal - which would also involve the Jazz and Bobcats - would have Favors going back to Denver, along with Utah's Andrei Kirilenko and multiple draft picks from the Nets and Warriors (the Nets hold Golden State's first-round pick in 2012).
Harris would be sent to Charlotte, while Boris Diaw would be shipped from Charlotte to Utah. Other role players are being discussed as part of the complex trade.
According to a source, the Nuggets will make a final effort this weekend to convince Anthony to return after his contract expires next summer. But after Anthony refused to sign a three-year extension that's been on the table since June - and after he turned down an opportunity this month to express any loyalty to the Nuggets in an interview with the News - it's unlikely the three-time All-Star will change his mind.
If the Nuggets fail to successfully woo Anthony, as expected, a deal should materialize quickly. The longer they keep Anthony around, the longer he becomes a distraction and his trade value dips. The Nuggets would rather trade him than end up with nothing. It's a harsh lesson already learned by the Cavaliers, who lost LeBron James for nothing to Miami when he shunned Cleveland, the Knicks, the Nets and a host of other suitors.
The Nets must also worry about teams swooping in with 11th-hour offers. Chicago, a preferred destination for Anthony, could reportedly change everything by offering Joakim Noah to Denver.
The Nets' only untouchable is their young center, Brook Lopez. But they're offering an All-Star point guard (Harris) and the third pick in this year's draft (Favors). Ironically, rumors of the trade began to circulate during Nets' Media Day on Friday, when both Favors and Harris were discussing the team's "bright" future.
King was spotted before the event started, before retreating to his office. He declined to comment. Coach Avery Johnson spoke mostly about his current roster, but offered only an inscrutable response when asked about potential trades.
"Every general manager is always out looking to improve the ball club and that's what they should do," Avery said. "If Billy was sitting up in his office watching political television shows - 'cause I heard he's a politics guy - I'd be very disappointed.
"We have a very strategic game plan," Avery said. "For us to disrupt that plan, it would have to be something that we think we would hit a home run with. And we don't have anything happening like that right now."
Favors said he was given some assurance from Avery about remaining with the franchise, although the coach stopped short of guaranteeing the 19-year-old he wouldn't be traded.
"He didn't tell me that," Favors said. "He just told me not to worry about it."
Anthony has a strong monetary incentive to approve a sign-and-trade deal with another team, because he'd likely earn more money under the current CBA which expires after the season. He also has considerable leverage to choose his next team, simply by indicating his reluctance to play long-term for any given franchise.
Although the Knicks are his preferred destination, the Nets are close enough to NewYork to appease many of Anthony's perceived desires.
From a Nuggets blog over 2 months ago... http://www.denverstiffs.com/2010/7/19/1577889/confident-about-melo-re-signing#storyjumpOriginally Posted by Steve Cash
who the hell is worldwide wes and why is this dude mentioned with everyone?
Among the many shocking revelations to come out of Wojnarowski's column, I was most struck by LeBron's obsession with being wooed (not surprising, I guess, considering what a self-obsessed jerk LeBron has turned out to be) and the number of times William Wesley - aka "Worldwide Wes" - was mentioned. That would be 17 times in case you were counting, too.
Being a self-professed NBA aficionado, I've of course heard of Wesley prior to this afternoon. But I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't know about or grasp the full extent of Wesley's influence over the business endeavors of the modern NBA and many of its players. I wrongfully assumed that Wesley was just another entourage guy; a hangers-on who loiters around NBA players but has no skin in the game or real influence.
After reading several articles and blog posts on Wesley ranging from a 2007 GQ article not-so-subtlety-titled "Is This the Most Powerful Man in Sports?" to True Hoop's Henry Abbott's relentless collection of facts and innuendo about Wesley, it appears as though Wesley has a great deal of influence over the players he's closely associated with. And lucky for us as Nuggets fans, one of those players happens to be Carmelo Anthony (I'm trying to be sarcastic with that line, by the way).
I encourage Denver Stiffs readers to read about Wesley. But the short synopsis is that Wesley is most closely affiliated with NBA super agent Leon Rose, a former high school basketball standout from the same New Jersey town that Wesley is from, Cherry Hill. Wesley was able to milk his relationship with Rose and former NBA player Milt Wagner (another Cherry Hill resident) to work his way up to working for Rick Mahorn, Michael Jordan (no joke) and has even been an "aide" to Allen Iverson.
Meanwhile, as far as agents go Rose is no slouch. Rose's clients, past and present, have included Melo, Iverson, Richard Hamilton, Eddy Curry, Eddie Jones, Andrea Bargnani, O.J. Mayo, Jonny Flynn, Ty Lawson and...you guessed it...LeBron James. From everything I've read today, Rose and Wesley are a tag-team operation with Rose doing the out-front negotiating and Wesley operating mysteriously in the background. They're kind of like the Bush/Cheney of the NBA, I guess.
According to Wojnarowski, Wesley was involved in Cleveland's dismissal of head coach Mike Brown (despite coaching the Cavaliers to back-to-back 60-plus win seasons) and was instrumental in LeBron's departure from Cleveland, even though LeBron's "inner circle", made up of his boys from Akron, wanted the self-anointed "King" to stay in Ohio. And according to the GQ article, while running the Knicks into the ground Isiah Thomas drafted and/or acquired Rose clients in hopes of landing LeBron in New York some day.
So while many Nuggets fans and members of the Denver media are confident that Melo will stay in Denver (and why shouldn't they be...not only was Melo offered a $65 million extension but he's owed $18.5 million in 2011-12 if he doesn't opt-out of his contract, meaning he'd be leaving $83.5 million on the table if he forgoes the extension), count me in for being skeptical. And worried. I may not be the biggest Melo fan in Denver, but I'm the first to recognize that this franchise doesn't make seven-straight playoff appearances without #15 in uniform and if anyone deserves a max contract in the NBA, Melo is on the list.
Why the skepticism? Because Melo is presumably being counseled by the same characters - Rose and Wesley - who "handled" LeBron's free agency which essentially ruined four franchises (the Cavs, Raptors, Nets and Knicks) while making the Heat a dominant NBA force of years to come. Granted, LeBron's situation was more complicated given that he had his boys from Akron, including Maverick Carter (the alleged mastermind behind the brilliant "The Decision"), involved. But just like Rose and Wesley aided greatly in jerking LeBron out of Cleveland - while jerking the city of Cleveland around in the process - the very same thing could happen in Denver. You see, when you're hanging out with the Jay-Zs, Michael Jordans and the Bill Clintons of the world, as Wesley is alleged to, places like Cleveland and Denver just don't cut it.
New CBA will be in place and he won't be able to get as much money. That, or there will be a lock-out.Originally Posted by ex carrabba fan
He could have just waited til the end of the season to become a free agent then sign with whatever team he wanted.
Good point. Still somewhat of a puzzling thing, there must be some sort of issue with the organization or the city.Originally Posted by Blazers21NTNP
New CBA will be in place and he won't be able to get as much money. That, or there will be a lock-out.Originally Posted by ex carrabba fan
He could have just waited til the end of the season to become a free agent then sign with whatever team he wanted.