Anthony to the Bobcats???

[DJT]

The rumor mill is buzzing today with news that the time has finally arrived for the Denver Nuggets to trade All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony. In case you've been under a rock for the last three months, the trade talks are not the result of any desire on the part of the Nuggets to get rid of their franchise player; rather, it's the reality that Anthony is not going to sign a contract extension and the Nuggets can't afford to be the next team left without a foundational star when free agency rolls around.

With that in mind, the Nuggets have been field offers, though not particularly aggressively, for the past few months. Now, according to miltiple reports, it seems they might be closing in on a deal.

The interesting team to surface today is the Charlotte Bobcats, previously unmentioned in rumors surrounding Anthony. Actually, they were mentioned, but always a third-party facilitator, never as the team actually receiving Anthony. There are no solid details about what the Bobcats might give up, and ESPN is running little more than a blurb in their news stream about the rumored trade, but given what the Bobcats have been willing to offer up in the past it's logical to think they would part with Gerald Wallace and Boris Diaw, two pieces that would help the Nuggets.

The real question facing Charlotte and team president Michael Jordan, however, is how much they want to pay for a player who is extremely unlikely to sign on with the team long-term. People close to Carmelo tell us he really would like to stay in Denver, but he isn't sold on the franchise going forward given the uncertain status of their roster next summer. If he is going to leave, he'd rather go to New York, which is really home for him and his wife.

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As for the red-hot Knicks, they have far from given up on the idea of adding Carmelo, but still lack the all-important draft pick to make a deal with Denver work. They can send the Nuggets Danilo Gallinari and the expiring contract of Eddy Curry, but the Nuggets want a draft pick, as well, and the Knicks sent theirs to Houston. One idea being kicked around is that the Knicks could send Anthony Randolph to Houston in exchange for the pick they formerly owned, but that assumes Houston is interested in yet another of New York's project big men.

If Anthony can't earn any playing time for Mike D'Antoni, who has a reputation of making something out of players who have struggled to find their path (see: Channing Frye, Louis Amundson), what on earth would the Rockets want with him?

The bottom line is the Knicks still don't have the pieces to send to Denver to land Anthony, and barring a third team suddenly emerging with an offer of help, they can't land him via trade.

But what about Charlotte? They're a long way from home for Carmelo and they play in an empty arena more nights than not. Would he be an amazing addition? Absolutely. Charlotte would immediately become a playoff team with Melo in the starting lineup. But does Michael Jordan have enough pull with Melo to convince him to come play for his team, even with their Brand Jordan tie?

That would have to be an awful lot of pull.

Stay tuned to HOOPSWORLD as we continue to follow this story closely

Read more NBA news and insight: http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=18161#ixzz17qeyNfGk

Interesting. Denver I bet would love to get G-Wall. Don't know if they would like Diaw as much as this article suggests.

 

[Swish]

Anthony to NYC or Nets. thats it. If he goes to bobcats he will also consider Toronto as well

 

[dez]

Idk where your getting Toronto from.

Id say its safe to say he's not considering Toronto at all

Bobcats could offer a nice package around Wallace or SJack but I remember reading the Nuggets dont want to take on big contracts so I doubt this happens.