Anthony's desire to go to New York doesn't exactly come as a surprise. The surprising part is that other teams expected to be in the hunt, teams that can offer much better packages to the Nuggets such as New Jersey or Chicago, now seem to be out of the running.
I'm probably in the minority here, but I think Anthony is actually doing the Nuggets a favor here. That is, if the reports are true, and he does in fact plan to sign with the Knicks through either a sign and trade or free agency.
The post-"Decision" NBA fan understandably doesn't have much sympathy for free agents. Especially maximum level free agents trying to team up with other max level players. But if what the source says is true, Anthony would be best served to confirm the report and lift the cloud of secrecy that will surround him up until the February 24th trade deadline.
If Anthony is only willing to go to New York, then the little bit of leverage the Nuggets had is now dead. However, now they're clear of Anthony's intentions, which in itself, is a huge advantage. I'm sure Cavs management would have preferred to know seven months in advance what LeBron was planning on doing.
Rather than wait around for Anthony, the Nuggets should now be clear that he's not re-signing with them. A fact that I'm pretty sure they were already aware of. They can now do one of three things.
1) Play out the rest of the year with Carmelo knowing he will leave at the end of the season. The Nuggets are currently 14-9, would be a sixth seed if the playoffs started today, and don't figure to improve much more than where they currently stand. So the Nuggets can ride with Carmelo, max out at a possible second round playoff exit and then lose him for nothing.
2) Work out a deal with the Knicks. The Knicks don't have the pieces the Nuggets want, or else a deal would have already been made. It's hard to see the Nuggets accepting some sort of package including Gallinari, Randolph, Curry's expiring deal and a first round draft pick, but if they want to get something of value for Anthony they may have to settle.
3) Out of spite, trade Anthony somewhere other than New York for a second round pick. Anthony feels that he and Nuggets management are "on the same page" and that they wouldn't send him anywhere he didn't want to go. They had seven great years together, but the Nuggets don't owe it to Anthony to trade him to his preferred location, just like he doesn't owe it to the Nuggets to re-sign with them.
For any team other than New York, they know they'd basically be renting Carmelo for three months, which is why they wouldn't be willing to give up anything of serious value unless Anthony signs the extension. That is why a second round pick would make perfect sense. The question is: would the Nuggets be willing to ship Anthony for such a small price, with the knowledge that it would also piss him and the fan base off?
Not likely, but not for the aforementioned reasons. I doubt they would want to help a contender in a playoff push for only a second round pick. And would a non-contender part with a pick just to sell some extra tickets? Probably not.
While Carmelo Anthony is handcuffing the Nuggets, he's doing it in a nice way, you could say. The Nuggets are aware of Anthony's intentions and now have the next two and a half months to assess their options with the knowledge that Anthony will be in New York next season one way or another.
It's not the ideal situation for the Nuggets, but it could be worse. They could be sitting in front of the television set this July and find out at the same time as everyone else.
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