Four-team trade involving Carmelo Anthony being discussed
The Denver Nuggets are seriously discussing a four-team trade that would make three-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony a member of the New Jersey Nets, according to ESPN.
The proposed deal would also involve the Utah Jazz and the Charlotte Bobcats. If the deal goes through, the Nuggets would receive Derrick Favors, the promising power forward who was drafted third overall in this year’s NBA Draft, from the Nets. They would
also acquire nine-year NBA veteran Andrei Kirilenko and numerous first-round picks from the Jazz.
The Bobcats would receive Devin Harris, the 27-year-old point guard, from New Jersey, while the Jazz would receive 28-year-old forward Boris Diaw from the Bobcats.
All four teams, according to ESPN, are “seriously engaged.”
The trade would bring resolution to Anthony’s apparent desire to be traded from the Nuggets. The three-year extension offer from Denver to the high-scoring Anthony worth $65m is yet to be signed. The Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks were reportedly
at the top of Anthony’s list of preferred destinations, but the Knicks did not have sufficient trade pieces to entice the Nuggets, and Chicago’s unwillingness to include forward Joakim Noah in a trade stifled any possible deal.
According to ESPN, one possible setback to the transaction, which has not been finalized, is Anthony’s unwillingness to sign a contract extension with the Nets. The Nets reportedly will not accept any deal involving Anthony unless he is willing to sign a
deal. They are not ready to part with promising young talents such as Harris and Favors unless they get a guarantee from Anthony that he will stick around long-term. Anthony can become a free agent at the end of next season.
The Nets, who are partly-owned by rapper Jay-Z, finished last season as the worst team in the league with a record of 12-70. The Nuggets finished in the fourth spot of the Western Conference last year with a 53-29 record but were eliminated by the Jazz in
the first round of the play-offs.
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