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http://ken-berger.blogs.cbssports.co...38893/26583993Sources: Mavs poised to enter Melo chase
Ken Berger
CBS Sports
The Dallas Mavericks are plotting an aggressive push to acquire Carmelo Anthony, even if they don’t get assurances that the three-time All-Star would agree to a contract extension as part of the trade, league sources told CBSSports.com.
Despite his team’s emergence as one of the powers of the Western Conference -- and, as Dallas proved Monday night in Miami, the whole league -- owner Mark Cuban is said to be not only willing to take a chance on Anthony, but eager to steal him from the Nets, who are owned by his billionaire rival, Mikhail Prokhorov. In a deal that would provide Denver with little more than future savings, the Mavs are planning what one rival executive described as a “hard” push.
The Mavs’ interest has yet to take the form of a concrete offer, as one person connected to the Anthony drama told CBSSports.com Tuesday that Dallas had yet to present one. Any prospects the Mavs might have to pull off such a coup would be contingent on Anthony declining to sign an extension with New Jersey. With a signed extension as part of the deal, the Nets still possess by far the most attractive assets to Denver -- Derrick Favors, the expiring contract of Troy Murphy, and multiple first-round picks.
But that is the question that the Anthony saga has hinged on for months. Part of Dallas’ strategy, according to sources, is to shift the Anthony discussions to what Cuban recently called the “rent-a-player” phase, which would drive down the price and encourage other teams to present offers without assurances that Anthony would stay put for five years -- the two he has remaining (including the early-termination option for 2011-12) plus the extension.
Such potential suitors, including the Mavs, do not have enough of what Denver is looking for to compete with New Jersey’s best offer. But if Dallas is successful in shifting Denver’s focus to “rental” deals, the Nets would then have to decide how much they are willing to give up to acquire a franchise cornerstone for their move to Brooklyn -- even if Anthony could leave them in the dust as a free agent before the team even got there.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets remain in a patient posture and are not in any apparent rush to push a New Jersey trade to fruition. And after acquiring two more first-round picks in a three-team trade with the Lakers and Rockets last week, Nets executives are continuing their ongoing efforts to sweeten the deal for Anthony by acquiring a veteran he’d want to play with in Newark, N.J., for a year-and-a-half. Such inducements could come in the form of Al Harrington and/or Chauncey Billups, whom Anthony might be comfortable having on board. The other scenarios, according to one executive familiar with them, are numerous and “beyond challenging” because multiple teams would be needed.
Among the contending teams with the deep pockets and championship core to take a risk like trading for Anthony without a signed extension as part of the deal, Dallas has the most expiring money to make it worth the Nuggets’ while. Any Dallas proposal would have to include the expiring contracts of Caron Butler and DeShawn Stevenson. More money would need to be added -- Tyson Chandler? -- or a third team would need to be recruited in order to take Harrington and/or Billups off Denver’s hands.
The notion of Anthony going to a contender -- or to the Nets, for that matter -- without signing his three-year, $65 million extension is exactly what New York Knicks officials are hoping for. Sources say the Knicks continue to believe that the longer the Anthony situation plays out, the better their chances of landing him through a trade, or more likely, as a free agent after the season and anticipated lockout. New York has been Anthony’s preferred destination since his operatives began pushing for a trade in September, and a person directly involved in Anthony’s decision-making process told CBSSports.com earlier this month that he’d become more entrenched in his desire to agree to an extend-and-trade only if he would up with the Knicks. CBSSports.com also reported that Anthony has not shared his position with Nuggets officials, and that Nets officials have been told differently by Anthony’s camp.
Another team that various team executives believe is very much in the mix -- either to make a push to land Melo as a rental or become involved as a third-team facilitator -- is the Rockets. Houston fully expects to receive a disabled-player exception for Yao Ming totaling $5.8 million and already has a $6.3 million exception from the Trevor Ariza trade. Such exceptions can’t be combined, but individually they could be used to absorb a contract -- such as, for example, the Nuggets’ J.R. Smith’s or Harrington’s -- without sending equal money back. In return, the Rockets would either have to get a player they want or be compensated accordingly with draft picks or other assets. The Rockets also are flush with the expiring contracts of Shane Battier, Jared Jeffries, and even Yao, whose contract is insured due to his season-ending foot injury.
Rockets owner Leslie Alexander has a history of bold moves, and has placed few restrictions on his front office, led by GM Daryl Morey, to spend money in order to win. The Rockets, for example, are currently a tax-paying team and are under no mandate from ownership to shed salary even though they are off to a slow start and have lost Yao for the season -- and maybe for good.
A dark horse in all of this? The Mavs’ opponent Tuesday night, Orlando. The Magic have a little more than two months before the Feb. 24 trade deadline to see if their revamped roster will be good enough to contend for a le after this week’s blockbuster trades with Phoenix and Washington. But the only piece that is likely to be available and enticing to Denver is Jason Richardson, whose $14.4 million contract expires after the season. Richardson cannot be combined with other players in a trade for 60 days, which would leave just enough time before the trade deadline to involve him in the Anthony discussions.
If -- and this is a big if -- Anthony is still a Nugget by then.
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fear, Drink Beer
If the Mavs get a second scorer they're gonna be le contenders for sure.
too bad they won't get one!!!
Oh please do it Cuban! This will just wreck their chemistry and make them worse! LOL Cuban always trying to buy championships!
tbh, if Mavs get Melo and don't win it all, you just gotta call it quits.
Would be an impressive move if Cubes pulls it out. We staaaaaacked wouldn't do that team justice.
Dallas doesn't have anything Denver would want, aside from expiring contracts.
I think Cuban looked at his most recent bank statements & thought to himself.."Sheeeet ,i'm richhhh hhhhh" hahaha gotta go all out while you have Dirk.
...didjoo READ the article?
Lakers are trading Bynum + Artest for Melo and Nene.
Somehow I see Chandler being included in this trade if Melo were to go to Dallas. Wouldn't be a bad deal since Chandler has been injury prone. Bounce Butler, Chandler and Haywood for Nene and Melo.
Like it was said earlier, mavs don't have enough of what Denver is looking for. Other than Beaubois, Mavs can't offer anymore young talent that is A-level and their 1st round picks would be basically 2nd rounders. Nuggets would want more from mavs bc they are in the west.
If Dallas had to include Chandler in the trade they would lose as much on the defensive end as they gain on the offensive end. Melo is one of the best scorers in the league, but Chandler IMO makes the Dallas defense formidable. I guess you don't want to pass on the opportunity to pick up a Top 10 NBA player, but Dallas has got something really good working this year and if they do this trade and lose to the Spurs or Lakers anyway Cuban would never hear the end of it.
from what I read and heard, would Dallas really want to trade players helping them so far for Melo and ruin all the chemistery?
Butler, Marion and Beaubois and whatever for Melodrama
No way they throw Chandler in a Anthony rental.
Butler/Stevenson/Roddy/Ajinca for Anthony/Anderson. Maybe add useless Balkman for a TE. Add maybe picks/Dojo and 3 million in cash for a Stevenson buyout. Then re-sign him after a month.
That should be the maximum offer and Anthony keep on playing hardball and declining the "Nets with extension" i see Denver going for such trades. Dumping salary and adding at least some talents and picks.
Kidd/Barea
Stevenson/Terry
Anthony/Marion
Dirk/Marion/Birdman
Chandler/Haywood/Birdman
Damn lol
it's sad that mavericks organization still doesnt think they have a contender in their hands.
Don't think in the box. Other teams would be involved to add talent to the deal if this were to happen. I honestly don't see it though. Melo, for all of his perceived posturing, is not going to decline an extension. If that's the case, the mavs are likely out.
Don't have too. No reason for Denver to trade Melo to Dallas for role players, expiring contracts, or late first round picks, when they can get more from the Nets.
Dallas doesn't need him. They have great chemistry. No need to mess with that. The return of Roddy may fill the biggest hole that this team has, which is a guy that can penetrate and score easy buckets when shots aren't falling for everyone else. If he can at least play at the level he played at last year, the Mavs will be just fine. I mean he is their second most skilled scorer, he hasn't played a game, and they are still 23-5. Barring injury, things can only go up from here with the return of Roddy. H e needs about 20-25 minutes a game, which should easily be providable, by taking away some minutes from Kidd, Terry, and Barea. Dirk needs to have his minutes reduced a bit too, which would be much more doable with Roddy's return as when Dirk leaves the court, they have another legit scoring threat, so then they can play Marion a little more at the 4, either have Butler playing the 3, or slide Stevenson to the 3, with Roddy and one of the other three guards (Kidd, Barea, Terry) out there.
I'd my pants if it happened, but it won't happen. and it still isn't a guarantee they'll beat SA/LA/BOS with Carmelo.
Mark Cuban trying to buy more championships. This really is sad..
More? What do you mean more???
Yeah, it's nothing but a typical Mark Cuban.
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