Carmelo Anthony wants out of Denver, and Worldwide Wes delivered that message to the Nuggets with all the delicacy of a jackhammer at Sunday morning services. Do yourself a favor and trade him, the agent told the organization weeks ago.
Here, in my opinion, are some of the possible destinations Melo could land.
NETS - Carmelo is hailed in the Baltimore community as a native, and although he grew up in BMore, Melo was born in Brooklyn, NY; the same place the Nets plan on moving in a couple of seasons. Now the Nets have the pieces available to trade for Melo but it's what they leave on the team to supplement Melo that could be an issue. An advantage the Nets have is that they are stockpiled with draft picks for years to come, but if Denver is smart, then they probably are going to be willing to give up Melo unless there is a package that includes Devin Harris, Derrick Favors or Brook Lopez or at least two of them. The Nets are faced with this question:
If we trade our future for Melo, are we closer to winning a championship? The answer to that, is a resounding NO!
Now, if they pull out a trade with just one of those big 3 leaving together with draft picks and then bring in Melo, the whole story changes but if you trade 2 out of 3 or all 3 of those players who are the cornerstone of your squad, you are bound to be exactly like the Cavaliers, a great regular season team but a TERRIBLE playoff team. Although, it would be great story if Melo brought a championship to his OTHER hometown.
BOBCATS - The Charlotte Bobcats are owned by the greatest basketball player ever known to man in Michael Jordan, who already has a previous relationship with Melo because Melo is signed with Nike, but specifically together with D-Wade on the Jordan brand. If Melo was traded to the NC, he would have a Hall-of-Famer coach in Larry Brown who could teach him so many more skills and give him way better advice than George Karl ever could considering all of Brown's accomplishments in the pro's and collegiately. The 'Cats have a great mix of young and old guys and have alot of salary cap space which makes them flexible with Denver.
Gerald Wallace would most likely be gone if this trade were to go down, and a potential combo of Stephen Jackson and Carmelo Anthony could be explosive. Jackson has superstar basketball skills to be a perennial threat, if he's not distracted and not getting into trouble with the refs, we clearly saw that with the Dallas-Golden State series in 2007. The only problem is that the Miami Heat are in the same division and conference as the Bobcats. With the agenda hopefully being about winning championships, would Melo be a good fit with the Bobcats? NO! Also, although trading him to Charlotte would provide alot of financial relief for Denver, there are not that many attractive pieces on the Bobcats roster that could help the Nuggets move on.
So, as of right now, what is the best place for 'Melo to go that also suites Denver in the compensation they get back?
THE LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Here's why.....
1. They have enough pieces that could be traded away and kept that will compensate both sides of the table well. Let's say they trade Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman and a 1st rounder for 'Melo; you still have a talented rookie guard in Eric Bledsoe, who was just as good but not noticed as much when he was in Kentucky with John Wall; Baron Davis, a point guard who can take over games and dish the ball out when he needs to; a growing forward in DeAndre Jordan, who has raw talent and experience as a starter; Blake Griffin, a talented center who is athletic and is not afraid to shoot, and a bunch of veteran role players who can step in when needed. There is no guarantee that those will be the exact pieces traded but L.A. is deep with many pieces that they can give up and pieces that they can keep to supplement 'Melo.
2. Lala Vasquez wants the spotlight and fame of being a basketball wife and already has an entertainment career of her own that started on MTV, where else can you gain fame than in L.A.?
3. When you do well, the fans WILL show up (even at Clipper games); we saw this already in 2007 when they ironically hosted Denver in a playoff series.
4. East coasters will stay up to watch you play, just because your in L.A., where all the stars are, and where they will show up when you start winning ball games, because nobody cares about Denver.
5. No competition in the West except for the Lakers (and maybe all 3 teams in Texas?), and as.....um.... alot of people say "Anything is possible, if you put your mind to it"
6. This is going to be Melo's team, unlike Miami, Melo is going to have his own team, but with pieces that will actually help you out and have alot of room to grow, it's almost like Denver 2.0.
The Clippers are a playoff team right now, but would be a big contender if they got Melo + LaLa is happy with being in Hollywood + Melo has more people watching him + Denver has some great pieces in place and doesn't need to rebuild = WIN-WIN SITUATION
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