Report: Nuggets Looking At T-Wolves, Kings, Nets In Possible Carmelo Anthony Deal

None of those teams would trade for Anthony because he’d refuse to sign an extension with them; why deal valuable assets for a one-year ‘Melo rental? The Nuggets leaked this rumor to send some sort of message to Anthony’s camp, but it’s totally bogus. Anthony has leverage insofar as he can tell a prospective team, through his agents, that he won’t sign an extension there. He can’t outright say, “Deal me to Team X, Y, or Z,” but he can say, “Don’t deal me to Team A, B, or C.”

The only team from that list that makes any sense is the Nets, because they’ll be in a huge market within a few years and can offer Brook Lopez, Derrick Favors, and other solid, young players. However, I doubt they’d unload either of those guys for Anthony unless they were making a playoff push, which seems unlikely, given their competition in the East.

My take is that he ends up in Houston, which has the combination of assets to offer the Nuggets and solid core to appeal to Anthony.

It took less than a day for Marc Stein (the Hornets aspect) and I (the Magic part) to discount that report.