After being declared “frontrunners” for Carmelo Anthony, it appears that expectations for a deal are now being tempered. Fred Kerber is reporting that no deal is imminent, and similar to other reports, the Nets are not going to make a deal without the guarantee of a contract extension from Anthony, who seems more interested in playing for the Knicks than signing a contract with the Nets:
With Anthony able to be a free agent after the season, the Nets simply are not going to rent a player for a huge price tag. If it ever gets to free agency, the Knicks will stand as good a chance as any of landing him.
Firstly, nothing frosts my cookies more than seeing a player who prefers to play for the Knicks than the Nets. Though, if true, the Carmelo Anthony dealings along with the free agency period are demonstrating that the Nets are still not a desired destination for NBA superstars. The only way they can reverse that is if they successfully build a team with young, talented players. If they can do that, by the time they move to Brooklyn, the Nets will be a destination. But they can’t force it in the meantime.
