UPDATE: Nets Still Pursuing Carmelo Anthony Despite Snags

Snooki's new neighbors?

In our previous post we broke down the basics of the potential three team trade between the Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets, and Detroit Pistons. This trade, if it goes through at any point, would fulfill the wishes of the Nets and their owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, in their quest to acquire Carmelo Anthony.

The deal would also have the likes of Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton moving to the Nets while the Pistons would receive Johan Petro and Troy Murphy, who has an expiring contract and has ben out of favor in Head Coach Avery Johnson’s system. New Jersey will also give Detroit a draft pick for taking Petro yet it has not been determined whether it will be a first or second round pick. (UPDATE: The pick that New Jersey will send to Detroit will be a second round pick.) Denver would take from New Jersey a heap of players including rookie Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, Anthony Morrow (who is presently sidelined with a strained right hamstring), Quinton Ross, Ben Uzoh, and Stephen Graham. Talks have been advancing over the weekend with many speculating that the trade is close to a done deal. However, both Anthony and Billups played in the Sunday night game against New Orleans.

A further snag arose, Detroit had been hesitant to be included in the deal, when the Nuggets began insisting that the Nets take Al Harrington as part of the deal. New Jersey does not look favorably on bringing in Harrington and his contract. He signed a five-year deal with the Nuggets worth $33 million during the summer in which only 50 percent of the final two years are guaranteed. The Nets would be on the books for four years and $28 million if they accepted Harrington in the deal which is something they want to avoid, according to ESPN’s Chris Broussard, as they are looking to be financially flexible in the future. (Read: Chris Paul becomes a free agent in 2012.)

Although Billups had early voiced his displeasure with the notion of being traded to the Nets he seems to have lessened his rhetoric as his $14 million dollar salary that is on the books for next season would be fully guaranteed in New Jersey. Yet, he would either want a buyout or a long-term contract extension, Broussard also reports. Billups is 34 years old and with the Nets hesitant, if not almost outright rejecting, about bringing in Harrington and his contract it would seem likely that Billups and the Nets would enter into buyout discussions once contract extension talks broke down.

All in all, in its present form, the trade sends much of the Nets roster (six players) to the Nuggets and in return they get Anthony, two aging guards in Billups and Hamilton, and possibly the undesirable contract of Harrington. Does this really make the Nets better? They are currently 10-27. Are the pieces they are brining in around Anthony going to make the team better? No. New Jersey is giving up its young talent to bring in Anthony and surrounding him with little more than bench players. Brook Lopez certainly is not a player who instills confidence in an organization. Hamilton is in steep decline and Billups will likely leave the Nets via buyout. If the Nets truly believe they can convince Anthony to sign an extension with the team then they need to do much more to improve their team and waiting around for Chris Paul to hit the free agency market is not the answer.

The Nuggets would be the clear winners of this trade as they would be acquiring some young and talented players who they could build around for the future. The multiple first round picks that Denver would receive from New Jersey certainly do not hurt the Nuggets either.

When Anthony was asked, after last night’s home loss to the Hornets, whether he thought he had played his last game as a Nugget he had this to say, “Not at all. Not at all. Not at all. Not at all. Just not at all.” He continued to down play all trade speculation FanHouse reports in what must make the Nets’ front office nervous. When asked if he thought he might be traded this week Anthony simply responded, “No.”

The Melodrama continues…

Update:

At around 11 AM Central Time, Broussard reported that the Nuggets also want the Nets to take Renaldo Balkman and potentially give up a first round pick. Clearly, Denver is doing everything it can to weigh the trade in their favor. It will be interesting to see if New Jersey will give in.