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Via Royce Young of CBSSports.com:
You’re supposed to believe the Orlando Magic haven’t made any inquiries into Carmelo Anthony’s availability. At least that’s what general manager Otis Smith is telling you.
But we all know better. A tier one superstar is potentially on the block and Smith’s team is in the market for an upgrade at small forward. And as Ken Berger reports , the Magic are one of the teams on top of Anthony’s list. Yeah, I’m sure Smith hasn’t at least asked about ‘Melo’s situation. [...]
Targeting Brandon Bass, Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus means the Nuggets get a good small forward in return, plus two solid big men, a position Denver has been looking to improve this year. (Denver would need to throw in Renaldo Balkman to make numbers work, but if they’re getting back two bigs, it would need to clear out room in the frontcourt anyway.) Yes, it’s a step down from Anthony, but any time you trade one of the top seven or eight players in the league, it’s going to be hard to get a comparable deal. Actually, scratch that, it’s basically impossible. But Denver’s other option is to let Anthony walk and get NOTHING in return. You know, the LeBron/Bosh exit plan. And teams that could offer really intriguing deals like the Clippers (Chris Kaman and Eric Gordon?) evidently aren’t on Anthony’s radar.
Same song and dance.
First it was Chris Paul, now it’s Carmelo Anthony.
It’s been an interesting off-season for the Orlando Magic, simply because they have been linked in trade rumors to some of the best players in the NBA. Paul is a top five player and the best point guard in the league. Anthony is, admittedly, a notch below in skill and value, but still an All-Star caliber talent. And both players, through various reports in the mainstream media, see the Magic as an attractive destination to ply their trade and join forces with Dwight Howard.
Anthony is the latest high-profile player that wants to take his talents to the City Beautiful.
Should Magic fans expect anything to happen with Anthony? No, but Anthony has something that Paul doesn’t — or didn’t — have. Anthony has leverage in the situation because he’s an expiring contract, and in the midst of deciding whether or not to re-sign with the Denver Nuggets for three years, $65 million. As been pointed out elsewhere, it speaks volumes that Anthony has not signed a new contract with the Nuggets when he’s had plenty of chances to do so already.
What does this mean for Orlando? Not much, other than it needs to be stated that there’s a greater chance, albeit a slim one, that general manager Otis Smith can make a play for Anthony if he chooses to do so. Acquiring a talent like Anthony is always tricky because the stars have to align just right, but there’s one thing that will the Magic as the process moves forward. Anthony, unlike Paul, has a lot of power with the situation.
It’s no secret that Anthony would like to join the New York Knicks if possible, but it’s been reported that Orlando is high on his list as well.
Here we go again.
