Here is a perspective from the Dallas Mavs about the Melo situation. The upshot is everyone knows Melo wants to be a Knick and he has the leverage to make it happen.
Carmelo’s Leverage: The Two Reasons The Mavs (And Most Everybody Else) Aren’t In The ‘Melo MixBy Mike Fisher and David Lord -- FOXSportsSouthwest.com
The Mavs are as fascinated by the Carmelo Anthony drama as anybody. And they are as enamored of the Carmelo Anthony talent as anybody, too. But sources tell FOXSportsSouthwest.com and DallasBasketball.com that there are two reasons the Mavericks are not in hot pursuit of the reportedly unhappy Nuggets superstar. And those same reasons – reasons in play due to an unusual form of leverage -- apply to pretty much everybody besides the New York Knicks.
Denver is in a trying situation, having put on the table an offer of a three-year extension worth $65 mil. That’s a max-money deal for a 26-year-old star who is the face of that franchise … but he’s so far leaving that offer sitting there on that table.
Between now and the mid-February trade deadline, there will be 30 teams – including the Nuggets -- wanting to employ Anthony. It that sense, for the Mavs, it would seem this situation mirrors the situation of New Orleans’ Chris Paul, who is very much on Dallas’ radar.
So why isn’t Carmelo Anthony showing up on that same radar at that same level?
Issue 1: Carmelo Anthony’s unusual Knicks-related leverage.
Any team that wishes to acquire Anthony will also ask him to sign an extension. NBA sources tell us they are so completely convinced that ‘Melo wants to land with the Knicks that he would be unwilling to sign such an extension with most any team, thus keeping his freedom for the summer of 2011.
So yes, a Mavs’ offer might be enough for Denver. (Dallas would give up a package like this: $3 million cash, two first-round draft picks, Roddy Beaubois, Caron Butler (one year at $10.8 mil and then expiring) and DeShawn Stevenson (one year at $4.1 mil and then expiring).
But if Anthony is focused on jumping teams again this summer, that’s a blockbuster package sacrificed for a one-year rent-a-player.
Dallas will not do that. Likely, no team will.
If Denver is to get top compensation (and if Dallas or any other team is going to chase a trade for him with strong value), the deal must include a ‘Melo extension, which means it's done with his cooperation. So if it's to happen, this has to become a Garnett-like deal. That means ‘Melo is in the middle of the negotiating, and he has to take a look at the ensuing landscape and decide that Dallas (or wherever) will be the place he wants to stay.
Without that, any of the millions of theoretical trade offers anyone can devise – as DB.com did earlier today in its “Mavs Amateur GM’’ piece – is meaningless.
It has to be noted that, if such a trade came together, the extension itself isn't merely a promise; it can formally be part of the trade. The NBA has a little-known provision in the rules that allows an Extend-and-Trade that works the very same way a Sign-and-Trade does. ‘Melo would sign an extension with Denver that is conditioned on his trade to some specified team within 48 hours.
If he picks (or approves) Dallas as an Extend-and-Trade destination? Then both teams have massive urgency to do a deal. Team X has an opportunity to get a star and Denver has the chance to get value.
And the key wouldn't be about the offer itself. It would be about where Carmelo is willing to stay. First and foremost, that's the primary hurdle in negotiating to get Carmelo Anthony in another uniform if the Nuggets are willing to make a deal.
Without the extension, the Mavs are not interested. Nor will most other teams be interested. Because that will simply set up his next team to get “LeBron’ed’’ in the way Denver is trying to avoid.
And there lies Anthony’s unusual leverage. … and why this is more “pipedreamy’’ than so many other superstar-getting concepts. He has no official “veto’’ power, but his position gives him that de facto muscle.
Says one source: “Carmelo wants the legacy. The fastest way for him to become a transcendent player is to get away from the Lakers (and the Western Conference). lead the Knicks to success, get that endorsement money, and be close to home (on the East Coast). He’s as concerned about his ‘image’ and his ‘profile’ as any player in the NBA. If he can pull this off, he’s right there with LeBron and Kobe.’’
One report says Orlando might be on ‘Melo’s list. DB.com has a source saying that the Bulls and Nets might be able to satisfy his desires. But the strongest opinion we collected today comes from one person who has a friendship with Anthony.
“’Melo wants it all,’’ he said, indicating that means New York.
Therefore, this really isn’t about the Nuggets and their wishes. This takes a high level of self-awareness on the part of the Nuggets – a self-awareness that Cleveland did not have with LeBron and that Toronto did not have with Chris Bosh. There is wisdom to trading him before the deadline and the best offers they will receive will come from teams ‘Melo will want to remain with long-term.
Issue 2: The ways in which this situation is not like Chris Paul’s.
On the surface, there would seem to be parallels. But we are told that in Dallas’ view, Paul’s availability in New Orleans was/is due to a perfect storm: Wobbly ownership, a now-fired GM not viewed favorably by the player, a franchise with no history of success.
Meanwhile, Anthony’s availability is not the result of any real problems in Denver. (As one source put it: “It’s not that he’s unhappy. It’s that going back East would make him happier.’’) This story is fueled completely by Carmelo Anthony’s primary desire to become a New York Knick … and that’s reason enough for the Mavs and rest of the NBA to serve as rubberneckers at a potential transaction that is being driven by a player who is not a free agent but is nevertheless crafting a way to orchestrate his freedom.
8/19/2010 12:29 AM