Report: Nets Sweep In On Carmelo; Pressure On Knicks?
NEW YORK (WFAN/AP) -- They're baaaack!
The Nets, thought to be completely out of the hunt for Carmelo Anthony just weeks ago, have reached an agreement with the Nuggets that would send the superstar from Denver to New Jersey, reports The Bergen Record's Al Iannazzone.
All Carmelo has to do is sign a $65 million contract extension to seal the deal.
If Anthony signs, the Nets will get Sheldon Williams, Melvin Ely, Renaldo Balkman, Chauncey Billups and Carmelo from the Nuggets. The Nets will send Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, Troy Murphy, Ben Uzoh and a staggering four first-round draft picks packing to Denver.
This could put pressure on Donnie Walsh and the Knicks to sweeten their offer for Anthony before the NBA's Feb. 24 trading deadline.
However, news isn't all bad for the MSG faithful. According to the Daily News, Knicks owner James Dolan is set to meet with Carmelo Anthony during All-Star weekend in Los Angeles.
Who else will be there to sit down with Melo? Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, according to multiple reports.
But don't get too excited, Nets fans.
Anthony also would have to know that coming to New Jersey probably would end his playoff hopes. The Nets have a 17-40 mark entering the break and are 8 1/2 games out of a playoff berth with 25 left.
And Carmelo has been quoted several times that he would love to play for the Knicks.
For Carmelo to land at the Garden, New York would reportedly have to give up Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Landry Fields, Timofey Mozgov and a first-round draft pick for Anthony and Billups, a deal that left the Knicks "flabbergasted," according to the NY Post.
"They want everything," the source said. "The Knicks didn't even have to sit down and talk about that offer. It's not even logistically possible. They'd have two miserable stars with nothing around them."
How far is Walsh willing to go?
"At the end of the trade, we have to look at it and say, 'Are we a good basketball team?,' " the Knicks' president said Wednesday night.
Which trade is worse, the Knicks' 5 players and a pick for Carmelo and Billups, or the Nets' 4 picks and 4 players for Anthony and a gaggle of Nuggets? Sound off below!
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