3 Teams 13 players. Goal is to make nets into a contender. I still think Melo ends up with the Knicks this summer.

The New Jersey Nets are nearing agreement on a three-team trade to acquire Denver Nuggets All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony(notes), league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

“It’s real close,” one source with knowledge of the talks said.

The Nets are close to completing the component of the trade that exchanges Troy Murphy(notes) for Detroit Pistons guard Richard Hamilton(notes), sources said. The teams are still negotiating whether Nets center Johan Petro(notes), who has two years and $6.75 million left on his contract after this season, will be included, but that isn’t expected to unravel the overall deal. The Pistons are too motivated to unload the remaining two years and $25 million on Hamilton’s contract for Murphy’s $12 million expiring deal.
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The Pistons would like to trade Richard Hamilton and the $25 million he has left on his contract after this season.

The proposed trade will send Anthony, Hamilton, Chauncey Billups(notes), Nuggets guard Anthony Carter(notes) and forward Shelden Williams(notes) to the Nets. The Nuggets will receive two first-round picks from the Nets, point guard Devin Harris(notes), rookie forward Derrick Favors(notes), guards Anthony Morrow(notes), Ben Uzoh(notes), Stephen Graham(notes) and Quinton Ross(notes). The Pistons will get Murphy and Petro.

If completed, the proposed trade would match the 13-player deal that sent Antoine Walker from the Boston Celtics to the Miami Heat on Aug. 2, 2005, as the largest in NBA history.

One front-office executive said Anthony is “on board” with signing a three-year, $65 million extension with the Nets – provided New Jersey completes the Detroit part of the deal.

“He wants to play with Rip,” the source said.

Billups would prefer to stay in Denver, but to make him more comfortable about the trade, the Nets are expected to commit to paying him the full $14.2 million he’s due next season in the final year of his contract rather than buying him out for just $3.7 million this summer, league sources said. Billups’ agent, Andy Miller, had said Saturday that his client would immediately seek a buyout if he wasn’t happy with the trade.

The New York Knicks remain Anthony’s preferred destination, but Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri has told Knicks president Donnie Walsh that his team doesn’t have the assets Denver wants. When Walsh has asked Ujiri to provide him with a list of the Nuggets’ desires, whether it be draft picks or specific players from other teams, sources said Ujiri has been unresponsive.

Anthony’s agent, Leon Rose, has been the driving force behind bringing Hamilton into the talks, league sources said. Rose, also represents Hamilton, and sources said he pushed Nets GM Billy King to bring the Pistons into trade talks with New Jersey and the Nuggets. Anthony has wanted the Nets to upgrade their roster upon his arrival for him to sign an extension.

“Leon is driving this one,” one front-office executive told Yahoo! Sports on Friday night.


With Anthony’s agent so heavily involved in brokering particular players in the deal, the Nets are working under a belief that a proposed package to bring them Hamilton and Billups would be sufficient to sell Anthony on joining them over his the Knicks.

Rose and William Wesley of CAA have long wanted to get Anthony and another of their clients, New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul(notes), to the Nets as the franchise prepares for a move to Brooklyn, N.Y. For now, Rose is pushing hard to get a suitable package together for Denver to get his client off a team he longer wants to play for.

The availability of Hamilton has been known for months, and yet the Nets only now finally reached out about including him in the Anthony deal. This could suggest that Rose and Anthony are more enthusiastic about adding Hamilton than King and Nets coach Avery Johnson.

The Record of Hackensack, N.J., first reported that New Jersey had engaged Detroit in the talks on Friday.

Most league executives were dubious Anthony would believe Billups and Hamilton, ages 34 and 32, respectively, would be tantalizing. Nevertheless, Denver has shown little interest in negotiating a trade with New York, and it believes Anthony doesn’t want to risk free agency this offseason when a new labor agreement could cost him tens of millions of dollars in guaranteed money.

As Yahoo! Sports first reported on Dec. 14, the Nets want the chance to use Russian billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov to personally sell Anthony on signing a contract extension.

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So Detroit gets screwed royally. Got it.

But they shed money so it is a win for them.

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Yeah, they were so awesome before this trade.

They're just unloading all of their shit contracts. I'm sure if they could have included Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva in the deal, they would have driven them to the airport.

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yeah I think Detroit actually makes out good here- not really sure what Hamilton has left in the tank but it isn't much.

If the goal is to make the Nets a contender then I think this is a fail.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I agree. They will be better then they were before, but if Melo doesn't re-sign, they are screwed. Hamilton and Billups are both old, and now the Nets just traded away 2 first round picks. Jay Z better make an offer that Melo can't refuse. They might climb into the playoffs this year with these guys, but they won't be able to contend.

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This is going to be terrible for my Nets if they don't get Carmelo long term. I haven't diagrammed this on my trading whiteboard but if you take out Carmelo after this year don't they become one of the worst teams in the whole league and basically Brook Lopez + no one?

So they give up a solid player like Devin Harris, the third pick in the draft this year, and two first round picks for half a season of Carmelo Anthony?

I guess going to New York makes you stupid.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

The Nets won't make the trade unless Melo signs the 3-year extension.

i'm attempting to sort this out. If they give up Harris in the deal wouldn't their core essentially be what Denver has now (Billups, Melo) except they'd have Hamilton ?

plus they'd be giving up picks and their bench is much worse than Denver's

Basically the Nets become a much older version of what Detroit was 5 years ago.

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with that lineup they clearly wouldn't be better than Boston, Orlando or Miami and they likely wouldn't be better than the Bulls, Hawks or even Knicks

I don't think he will do that.

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From your story

How in god’s name does he agree to that trade…and by that I mean, there’s no way Melo signs that extension. Why would he? They’re giving up 2 future first round picks, Derrick Favors, and Devin Harris, and Petro and stuff too. That team will consist of Chauncey (not good), Melo and Brook Lopez.

Everything I've read says this trade won't happen without Melo signing an extension.

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Brooks Lopez
Carmelo Anthony
Rip Hamilton
Chauncey Billups
Kris Humpries/Candance Parker's husband

While that may not be a great starting 5 I believe it would be more than good enough to have a chance to come out the East. Problem is they won't have much depth or scoring coming off the bench. Not sure how much you can count on Outlaw and Farmar to provide that spark.

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You're forgetting Sasha Vuijic.

They might have 1 season to make a run, but they are really mortgaging the future and they have to hope that Hamilton and Billups don't break down (which they probably will).

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Again, no way that team is better than the top 3 in the East

Debatable if they would be better than Bulls, Hawks or Knicks

I agree ONLY if Rip continues to play like he has been playing the last couple of years. If the light goes on again (because he is with a good team) I believe you are wrong. Don't underestimate the leadership abilities of Billups either. I trust Billups and Anthony more in the playoffs than I would trust LeBron and Bosh.

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I was wondering if someone was gonna mention this. The Nets arent as dumb as everyone is making them out to be. Harris is not an All Star caliber player and has most likely already hit his ceiling. The first round picks after the lottery are not nearly as valuable as some believe. Derrick Favors really is a huge piece, but Melo is a top 10 player(probably higher) when fully engaged and him + Brook wouldnt be a bad fresh start at all. The Hamilton part makes no sense at all to me though because they wouldnt obviously need to flip him before the 2012 FA Class(which could rival this past summer's)

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I wonder if Carmelo Anthony's wife, former MTV VJ and VH1 reality star LaLa Vasquez, is pulling the strings on why this trade's not going to happen...As much as Carmelo wants out of Denver, I think he wants to play alongside Amare Stoudemire and the now relevant again New York Knicks, not the New Jersey Nets. Here's the problem with that. The Knicks might not have the pieces or the players to make such a deal with the Nuggets.

As for the Nets, they won't be in New Jersey much longer. They're supposed to be building a new $1 billion arena in Brooklyn, and it's supposed to be ready in time for the 2012-13 NBA season. They're only supposed to play in Newark's Prudential Center for 2 seasons.

Nets pulled out of the deal. I am guessing Melo wouldn't agree to an extension before the trade was made and this scared off the Nets.

I think the Russian said the price just ended up being too high.


Bulls are back in it, but it sounds like they still won't move Noah... so it probably won't happen. Read some speculation about Houston who has a lot of young talent and picks and might be willing to trade without an extension.

Why would Houston make that move? They can move Yao's expiring deal, but other than that, they would just be trading guys for half a season of Melo? Doesn't make much sense.

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It would be a high price if you only get Melo for a half a year. I heard they broke down when Denver wanted to add Ronaldo Balkman to the deal for one of their rookies. You can't tell me you stop that deal for a bench player - Melo wouldn't agree to an extension before they made the deal is why - it's got to be

Agreed.

The Bulls have been exposed over the past month with Noah being out. Yes, they have been winning, but it is has against mostly scrub teams, or good teams missing key players (Miami:Lebron & Boston:Garnett). Missing Noah in the playoffs would cost this team dearly. Someone who can knock down an open jumper is all this team needs.

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If the Bulls can trade Deng and others with giving up anyone in their big 3 to get Anthony I would do it it a heart beat. I know we tend to fall in love with our guys like Paxson but not wanting the best scorer in the league on your team is insane. It's like passing on MJ or Kobe because you like Starks or Peja.

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Would you do it if Anthony won't sign an extension? Basically you would be dumping Deng, Taj, filler and/or picks for a half season of Melo. Is that worth it? If he would sign an extension I would do it in a heartbeat also. Otherwise no.

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