We are ostensibly a blog about sports in the Midwest, but every once in awhile a national issue arises that demands our attention. Carmelo Anthony, and his quest to be traded is one such issue.
For those of you who have not been following this soap opera, Carmelo Anthony is in the final year of his contract with the Denver Nuggets. He has made it very clear that he is not planning to re-sign in Denver and that, ideally, he would find himself in New York next year (why anyone would want to leave Denver is beyond me). Now, obviously an athlete, when their contract is up, has the ability to play wherever they please. Well, here is the issue with Carmelo Anthony. Unlike in Major League baseball, the Nuggets will not be awarded a compensatory draft pick if Melo signs elsewhere. Unlike in the NFL, the Nuggets cannot place a franchise tag on Melo, essentially making him the highest paid player at his position for a year to prevent him from leaving. No, if he signs elsewhere, the Nuggets will receive absolutely no compensation. This is an absolutely crucial point because a star in the NBA impacts a team in an exponentially greater manner than anywhere else in sports. As a result, the Nuggets are trying to trade Carmelo Anthony.
The Nuggets are looking for some combination of young talent and future draft picks to move Carmelo Anthony, and they want to move him fast because the Nuggets crowd is rapidly turning on Melo. Well, the Knicks lack desirable young talent and have very, very few picks to get a deal done. The New Jersey Nets, on the other hand, had picks and Derrick Favors, a young, quality talent that no one else could offer. The Nets could also offer something to Melo. They could offer a Russian billionaire owner who will absolutely spend money. They could offer Brook Lopez, a strong young post player who has regressed a little this year, as a compliment. They could offer a new, state of the art arena in Brooklyn (which, last I heard, is in New York).
Today, however, the Nets walked away from the trade in what had been a long, horribly public, negotiation. Why did the Nets walk away? After being granted permission to talk to Melo about a potential contract extension, something happened and the meeting never took place. When asked about why Anthony never spoke to him, the Russian billionaire said, "Maybe the carrier pigeon got lost" (I don't know if something got lost in the translation, but that is a phenomenal quote).
And here is my issue with all this. Carmelo Anthony has a relationship with the city of Denver and his fans. They stuck with him through good times (a ride to the Conference finals two years ago) and bad. They spent money on jerseys, they spent money on tickets, they cheered for him, they defended him. Is it asking too much for Carmelo Anthony to take a meeting?
Players have quit on teams to force trades for 60 cents on the dollar (Vince Carter, I'm looking at you). Players have announced they will not re-sign, have not been traded out of spite by the owner, and then left their team a talentless wasteland (Chris Bosh, I'm looking at you - ironically enough, both Carter and Bosh gave the middle finger to the city of Toronto). The loser in all this is never the player, and it is rarely the owner. But the fans ALWAYS lose. Carmelo Anthony had an opportunity to mitigate Nuggets fans suffering. I am not saying he had to accept a trade to the Nets. All he had to do was take a meeting.
The end result of this, the Nuggets will probably end up taking the best trade package the Knicks can offer them (a poo poo platter of mediocre players). Melo will be happy in New York and the Nuggets owner will still be incredibly wealthy. The Nuggets fans will lose as the franchise is mired in years of, at best, mediocrity.
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