Nuggets and Nets agree to Melo trade (update: false alarm)

[Built Ford Tough]

The truth = in bold.

 

 

But this is wrong...

 

 

 

... because the Nets are already quite convinced Melo will not leave in the summer to sign with the Knicks for A LOT less when the New Jersey-Brooklyn is not worth relocating to New York at the price of MASSIVE PAYCUT.

 

But, there's no guarantee. It's on the Nets to believe this theory, pull the trigger and take the (smart) risk.

 

Why is it wrong? Because it conflicts with what you believe?

 

If the Nets don't care if Melo signs an extension and would make the trade regardless, then why isn't he a member of the Nets yet? After all, you just agreed with me when I said that the Nets and Nuggets have probably had an agreement for a while now so shouldn't that mean Melo should be a Net by now?

 

You may be right and New Jersey would be willing to go ahead and trade for Melo without the guarantee of him signing an extension, who knows, but somebody isn't "wrong" because they think that a team wouldn't be willing to give up the kinds of assets that the Nets are supposedly giving up in any Melo trade without the guarantee that he isn't more than just a half season rental.

[Real Deal]

New Jersey didn't want it unless he committed. Three different guys on Twitter (Woj, Stein and Aldridge) all put it out there, if I recall correctly (not sure if it was Aldridge or someone else, actually).

 

As I said in another topic, I remember hearing that Houston and Golden State were interested in a Melo trade, extension agreed upon or not, and those were the only two teams that would work a trade despite that one condition. New Jersey and New York both wanted Melo to commit, and so did the Kings, Clippers and Sixers.

[Multi-Billionaire]

If the Nets don't care if Melo signs an extension and would make the trade regardless, then why isn't he a member of the Nets yet?

 

1.) 15 December is today, where Troy Murphy can finally be dealt.

2.) Nets have their own doubts about making the trade without Melo's extension guarantee, but realize this is their ONLY chance of landing him... because Melo will NOT guarantee extension before trade to Nets when he thinks there's still a chance for Nuggets to deal him to Knicks. It's the ONLY chance for Nets to land Melo... it's NOW... not in the summer. There's no guarantee Melo will sign extension, but they have to do it if they want to get a franchise-turning superstar in his prime not seen since they traded for Kidd back in 2001.

3.) I'm sure Nuggets are holding to the very last hope that Melo will sign the extension and stay in Denver. Imagine this scenario:

 

Nuggets FO: "Melo we have a deal with Nets in place... you're going to be traded there UNLESS you change your mind, sign extension NOW, and stay in Denver. Are you sure you don't want to stay with us? We will not wait until 24 Feb where teams will know we are more desperate and offer less... so we are going to make a decision NOW and get it done so the franchise and you can move forward."

 

Melo: "Screw it, I'll sign extension now and stay in Denver, just don't trade me to Nets damn." (Denver's preferred Melo response but unlikely)

 

 

#1 and #2 are the main reasons...

 

#3 is Denver's last hope but they know deep down it's not gonna happen.

[Multi-Billionaire]

While Anthony hasn’t shown a great willingness to play for the Nets, he hasn’t ruled it out. The Nets believe if they can get a trade agreement in place with Denver, they could call upon owner Mikhail Prokhorov and coach Avery Johnson to sell Anthony on a compromise of committing to an extension with the Brooklyn-bound Nets.

 

Woj says:

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AtaKo_Y_kVhAyEqmMhCtjMS8vLYF?slug=aw-williamsrockets121410

[Built Ford Tough]

1.) 15 December is today, where Troy Murphy can finally be dealt.

2.) Nets have their own doubts about making the trade without Melo's extension guarantee, but realize this is their ONLY chance of landing him... because Melo will NOT guarantee extension before trade to Nets when he thinks there's still a chance for Nuggets to deal him to Knicks. It's the ONLY chance for Nets to land Melo... it's NOW... not in the summer. There's no guarantee Melo will sign extension, but they have to do it if they want to get a franchise-turning superstar in his prime not seen since they traded for Kidd back in 2001.

3.) I'm sure Nuggets are holding to the very last hope that Melo will sign the extension and stay in Denver. Imagine this scenario:

 

Nuggets FO: "Melo we have a deal with Nets in place... you're going to be traded there UNLESS you change your mind, sign extension NOW, and stay in Denver. Are you sure you don't want to stay with us? We will not wait until 24 Feb where teams will know we are more desperate and offer less... so we are going to make a decision NOW and get it done so the franchise and you can move forward."

 

Melo: "Screw it, I'll sign extension now and stay in Denver, just don't trade me to Nets damn." (Denver's preferred Melo response but unlikely)

 

 

#1 and #2 are the main reasons...

 

#3 is Denver's last hope but they know deep down it's not gonna happen.

 

1) Exactly, today is the 15th of December so, again, why isn't the deal done? Murphy can be traded now and you agreed with me that the two sides agreed to the main framework of the trade months ago. The trade could now be official, yet there is no deal. It may be because of what you say in your 3rd point, but I think it is much more likely that New Jersey won't be willing to acquire him without the guarantee of having him for multiple seasons than Denver holding out hope that he will suddenly change his mind and re-sign with the team when he has already turned down their extension one more than one occasion (correct me if I am wrong).

 

2) Fair enough, this is a valid opinion. I don't agree with it, but I won't say it is wrong because it is plausible. I think it is more likely that the Nets aren't willing to give up the assets that Denver wants (Favors and multiple draft picks) unless they know that Melo will be with the team long term. Why cripple yourself for the next 5 years for only a half season of Melo? That is the logic that I believe they are using and that is why I believe no trade has been reached.

 

3) Again, very possible, but I think they have come to terms with the fact that Melo has no desire to stay in Denver. He has rejected their contract extensions, their team is not a contender, they are capped out and they don't have the necessary assets (whether it is trade pieces or draft picks) to acquire the necessary pieces to catapult themselves to the contender level. I don't think they have any false notions of retaining Melo.

 

Basically, it comes down to this, at least in my opinion.

 

Denver wants to trade Melo to New Jersey for this package. New Jersey wants to trade for Melo with this package, but only if Melo signs an extension. Melo wants to sign an extension with New York and not Jesery, but Denver doesn't want what New York is offering. They are holding out hope that Melo will change his mind and will agree to an extension with Jesery because of their package being more appealing.

 

At least that is my opinion on things. Maybe I'm wrong, who knows.

[Real Deal]

Woj says:

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AtaKo_Y_kVhAyEqmMhCtjMS8vLYF?slug=aw-williamsrockets121410

Exactly...so, the Nets won't do it until the extension is agreed upon.

 

The Nets believe if they can get a trade agreement in place with Denver, they could call upon owner Mikhail Prokhorov and coach Avery Johnson to sell Anthony on a compromise of committing to an extension with the Brooklyn-bound Nets.

[Dash]

On Tuesday, a rival executive familiar with the Nets' months-long efforts to land Melo corroborated Anthony's Knicks-only stance, telling CBSSports.com of New Jersey, "They got word that Melo will not sign there. They can't get it done."

 

Contrary to another report, Anthony himself at no point informed the Nuggets or Nets of his stance. So the Nets, who according to sources have received repeated assurances from Anthony's camp that he would extend his contract in a trade to New Jersey, continued with their aggressive strategy to sweeten the assets they could offer the Nuggets. Even as word of Anthony's Knicks-only strategy leaked out Sunday after he made his only scheduled appearance of the season at Madison Square Garden, the Nets were working on the framework of the Houston-L.A. deal that came together Tuesday. A person familiar with the situation said acquiring additional first-round picks was something the Nuggets specifically asked for in an Anthony trade.

 

Like the crosstown rival Knicks, the Nets struck out in their efforts to lure free agents LeBron James and Dwyane Wade this past summer. But if this haul of first-rounders puts the Nets over the top in their pursuit of Anthony, it would be another dagger for the Knicks. It is believed that Houston's 2012 lottery-protected pick going to New Jersey is the pick the Rockets acquired from New York in the Tracy McGrady deal last February -- the trade that cleared the final bit of cap space the Knicks needed to have any chance of getting LeBron.

 

http://ken-berger.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/11838893/26450495

[Multi-Billionaire]

You guys must understand Melo will fight and continue to push the Nuggets to trade him to Knicks... and this means NOT agreeing to extend-and-trade to Nets.

 

But this is not to suggest the Nets are such a crappy team Melo won't play for. In truth, if the Knicks are no longer possibility, he wants to play on the Nets... because the franchise is also soon relocating to Brooklyn. But when Knicks remains an open option he will not reveal this card. He will bluff that he will ONLY play for the Knicks, when the truth is, he doesn't mind AT ALL playing for Nets.

 

To put it simply... to Melo, the Nets are Adidas, and Knicks are Nike. Adidas ain't bad brand, but why would you go with Adidas when you could STILL go with Nike?

 

 

 

There are two situations:

 

1.) Before the trade

Melo will NOT agree to extension if the destination if New Jersey. Because he knows while he's NOT YET traded he can push Denver to deal him to New York. This is a situation where Melo still holds cards.

 

 

2.) After the trade

But if he is traded to New Jersey ANYWAY (without extension), Melo's cards change considerably. Would he really (if he's traded there) not sign extension, wait until summer, walk, and take massive paycut to sign with Knicks? To move work from soon-to-be "Brooklyn New Yorkers" to "New York Knicks"? Give up about $7 mil per season?

 

 

---

 

 

And if you understand that Melo will NOT say he doesn't mind playing for the Nets, this means NOT agreeing to extend-and-trade with the Nets... if you try to think from Nets' perspective, then this is the ONLY time and way to get him. There's only 2 possibilities for the Nets:

 

- Don't trade for Melo... don't do anything because of fear of him not resigning. Chance of Melo becoming Nets franchise: ABSOLUTELY 0%

 

 

- Make trade for Melo... do the trade anyway, taking risk... and try like hell when he's there to convince him to sign extension. Chance of Melo becoming Nets franchise: DEFINITELY GREATER than 0%.

 

 

What should the Nets do? Not do the trade, wait until they can make a trade for another superstar that wants to commit long term with them? Or bank on Derrick Favors/ their future draft picks to become a superstar? How long will it take 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years? A sports franchise ownership span is not long-lived, I'm sure Phokorov wants to take a chance NOW, based on the belief that:

- Melo will NOT take a massive paycut to relocate just 20 mins freakin away and sign with Knicks

- If Melo commits long term, the franchise finally gets its superstar in his prime since Kidd, important piece when they move to Brooklyn and try to attract fans there and possibly turn Knick fans into Nets fans.

- When, if not NOW, will he see his franchise get a superstar?

Edited December 15, 2010 by Multi-Billionaire

[Universe]

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