With each passing day it seems like that we're going to be rooting for a Denver Nuggets team that does not have Carmelo Anthony. Carmelo saw LeBron, Wade, and Bosh hold the NBA hostage a few weeks ago and knows he can do the same next year and has most likely decided to go through with it. If Melo was going to stay and resign with us he would've done so already. This "I want to see some improvements before I sign" is just a smoke screen so the FO doesn't harass him.
So what has Melo done for us? Melo in the past has taken us to the playoffs consistently for 7 years now. Considering the horrific state of the Nuggets Pre-Melo that does seem like a lot; but not much was done until we got Chauncey Billups in 2008 when we were at the Western Conference Finals. I'm giving a mulligan for this last playoff run due to George Karl being out, if we would've had George Karl then we would've beaten the Jazz. So what does the front office do now with a wavering Melo? You trade him to get something back at least. You do not wait and hope he decides to stay, you get value so you don't end up with nothing.
Melo is going to be traded then by the trade deadline. Who should we trade him to? I'm all for sending him to his future hometown team the Nets. When the trade deadline comes around, I would be perfectly content trading Carmelo Anthony to the New Jersey Nets for Brook Lopez, Terrance Williams and 2 1st round draft picks. Brook Lopez would fill an immediate and long term need at C, moving Nene to PF and having Harrington come off the bench. Terrance Williams can be our Melo replacement. He doesn't need to replace Melo's scoring, just give us good defense and tough rebound and maybe a consistent 12 points a game.
I'm hoping this will usher in a new way of Denver Nugget basketball, we would be set at most positions and armed with potentially high NBA draft picks (Thanks to the Nyet effect). It would have emphasis on Team play and chemistry and not on Superstars. The Detroit Pistons NBA champion team embodied this philosophy and were successful for many seasons before Joe Dumars decided to blow it up out of the blue.
What do you guys think?
