Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z got their audience with Carmelo Anthony last night and at the end of the day, the common consensus is still that the Denver star prefers the New York Knicks. But the Nuggets prefer the Nets package of young talent, expiring and four draft picks.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, this could be a game of chicken between Denver and ‘Melo that goes all the way up until Thursday’s trade deadline:
Nevertheless, the Nets’ best hope remains that Denver refuses to do a deal with New York, gets to the trade deadline on Thursday and simply tells Anthony: If you want your $65 million extension, you can only get it with the Nets. If not, we will keep you and let you go to free agency.
“Denver still wants the Nets deal, not New York’s,” a league executive told Yahoo! Sports on Saturday night.
Ultimately, this may still come to a bluff between the Nuggets and Anthony. Are the Nuggets willing to lose him for nothing and let him go into free agency? Is Anthony willing to finish the year with Denver and go into the uncertainty of free agency and a new collective-bargaining agreement that could cost him tens of millions of dollars on a max contract?
It’s a sad statement on the Nets organization that their only “hope” of becoming relevant is if the player in question is essentially dared into coming here. We get it. Anthony does not want to be a Net. Not before, not now. Does that mean the trade won’t happen? I don’t know, but I had infinite more respect in Mikhail Prokhorov when he wasn’t going to beg – and he’s seemingly begging again, which is pathetic.
