There were some in the Denver front office that held out hope once Carmelo Anthony got to Denver, once he got around George Karl and his teammates things would be different. If he just sat down with management things would change.
He would smile, remember how much he loves it here and decide to sign the extension and stay in Denver.
It was about as likely as bluebirds flying in through the window to help make the bed. Something out of a Disney fairy tale.
In case you thought things were different now, here is what Anthony told Marc Spears of Yahoo last night.
”They want to sit down and talk, but my thing is it’s way beyond this year,” Anthony told Yahoo! Sports after scoring a team-high 23 points in the Nuggets’ victory. ”It ain’t got nothing to do with the new GM, (incoming owner) Josh (Kroenke), the players. For me, I feel it’s a time for change.
”If I do nothing now, I’m never going to do anything. I feel like my time is now to make a decision if I want to leave or if I want to stay.”
Anthony can’t come out and just ask for a trade, he’d get fined by David Stern faster than Joey Crawford can “T” somebody up for looking at him wrong now. And it would be a massive fine, just so we’re clear.
But Anthony has the leverage of free agency — Denver has to move him by the February trade deadline or risk him walking next summer and they get nothing for him. They risk the fate of Cleveland and Toronto. So it’s a waiting game now — on Dec. 15 players that were signed as a free agent this past summer can become part of a trade. It opens up options.
But as the trade deadline nears, other teams are going to put the squeeze on Denver, lowball offers will be the norm as other teams know Denver has to do something.
So we wait. But while Anthony is paying and playing well in Denver, don’t think things are different.
