POSTED: Monday August 16th 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Carmelo Anthony, New York, and the basketball Mecca
It’s looking more and more probable that the Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony will sign with the New York Knicks after this year’s season.
It’s looking more and more probable that the Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony will sign with the New York Knicks after this year’s season. The move would be an obvious and much needed step towards building a power team capable of competing with Miami and reclaiming New York’s throne as a basketball Mecca.
And there’s lots of happenings in Melo Land that make the move seem that much more likely, all going down long before he’s witnessed his team get walloped by the Heat and watch his friends Lebron and D-Wade throw each other alley-oops on ESPN all season long. Come next year that sight alone might be enough to get him to pair up with the likes of Amare Stoudemire, Tracy McGrady, Raymond Felton and maybe Hornet’s point guard maestro Chris Paul in New York. Imagine that line up ramming head on into Miami!
But for now, before the weight of the Heat makes every superstar in the league turn run towards each other, here’s why it looks like we’ll see Anthony in Madison Garden next year: Carmelo and his wife, quasi-celebrity La La Vazquez have put their Littleton, Colorado eight bedroom estate on the market for $9.5 million (they paid 12 for it, albeit that’s a hit Melo can afford to take). All summer long there’s been leaks and rumours that Anthony has been telling friends and trainers how much he wants to play for New York. Carmelo was born in Brooklyn, raised in Baltimore and went to college in Syracuse, New York, and had his wedding this July at Ciapriani in Manhattan. So Melo’s home and heart is clearly on the east coast, and he probably feels a little out of place a mile high in the mountains of Colorado surrounded by goats and big trees or whatever. On top of all that, for the past few months Nuggets management has been tossing around Carmelo trade ideas, which most likely have been making him feel less then loyal and committed to his current organization. You can never underestimate Isiah Thomas, and he’s convinced Knicks owner James Dolan that he can lure Carmelo Anthony to New York next summer is worth a lot of consideration.
There’s also the fact the Nuggets have laid a three-year $65 million dollar extension on the table and left it there all summer, and because he’s got until June 30th 2011 to sign, and has a $15 million one year extension option, Anthony’s making it clear he’s in no rush to make any long term decisions.
Patience is a virtue and $21.6 million a year is a lot of money, even for an NBA player. Carmelo’s also undoubtedly aware that if the NBA enacts a new collective bargaining agreement, the Knicks might not be able to pay him anywhere near that amount come 2011. If I were Denver management, and my star player wasn’t jumping on the bandwagon with a lucrative offer like that in light of a pending collective bargaining agreement coming, I’d be very nervous. Especially considering Melo averaged 28.2 PPG last year, behind only Kevin Durant and Lebron James.
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Keywords · sports · NBA · basketball · Carmelo Anthony · La La Vazquez · Denver Nuggets · New York Knicks · Tracy McGrady · Raymond Felton · Amare Stoudemire
Name: John Waverly
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