The Melo Trade: What Really Broke Denver's Hearts
Feb 23, 2011 20:12:04 GMT -8
Post by Jason on Feb 23, 2011 20:12:04 GMT -8
This article sums up my thoughts on the trade, practically dead on.
We lost one of the most talented players in the NBA, sure. But that's not even close to what hurts the most.
The dirty deed is done. How did the NBA get to be such a nasty business? In order for the Nuggets to stop being held hostage by disgruntled forward Carmelo Anthony, they had to sacrifice hometown hero Chauncey Billups in a blockbuster trade with the New York Knicks. There is relief in Denver, but no joy.
In a thankless task that has consumed every waking minute of every day since being hired, new Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri made the best of a lousy situation, getting a haul of young talent and a No. 1 draft choice from the Knicks. Like every one who loves basketball in Denver, his emotions were rubbed raw by the deal.
"Carmelo Anthony is one of the NBA's fantastic scorers and the player who
Masai Ujiri makes tough decisions. (Andy Cross, Denver Post file )brought life back to Nuggets basketball," Ujiri said Monday, moments after putting finishing details on a trade more than six months in the making. "I'm sad to be the guy who traded Melo. But that's life."
Know what's sad about life in the NBA?
The heart and soul of a basketball city was ripped out, because Anthony bullied the Nuggets, forcing the team to take pennies on the dollar for its franchise player. After giving more than seven years of his life, buzzer-beating thrills and one gloriously deep run in the playoffs, maybe Melo doesn't owe us anything.
But taking along Billups, who grew up in the city's Park Hill neighborhood, in the deal? That's crummy. That's personal.
"The whole Chauncey thing, that's very tough. Trading him is something that makes you not sleep well at night," Ujiri said. "But we had to do what's best for the franchise."
The Nuggets saw how Le- Bron James left Cleveland without hope when he dumped the mistake by the lake for the Miami Heat and a party on South Beach.
Denver was determined not to get LeBron'd.
In a trade that won't be official until the league office gives its stamp of approval this morning, the best the Nuggets could hope for was not having the franchise doomed to failure for the next five years. Mission accomplished.
After being held hostage more than 200 days by Anthony's refusal to sign a $65 million contract extension offered way back in July, the Nuggets got out of this mess with promising New York players Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton and Timofey Mozgov, plus the Knicks' No. 1 draft choice in 2014.
But you couldn't blame Nuggets president Josh Kroenke, who worked alongside with Ujiri in negotiations that would entrap teams from New Jersey to Detroit to Los Angeles in ugly rumors, for feeling like the NBA needs to shut down at season's end to restore order to the league. And you could only imagine the anger of Denver fans now being asked to support a team they don't know for a playoff run. You could forgive everybody in town for feeling in need of a shower after being slimed by the new rules of pro basketball.
On the February night when his fondest basketball wish came true, Anthony sat next to comedian Conan O'Brien in Los Angeles and laughed on television rather than report to his final day of work in Denver.
Billups bolted from the Nuggets' practice facility with a grim face, solemnly refusing to speak with reporters, saying: "Not today, not today, not today." He was headed home to inform his three daughters that Daddy would soon be moving to New York.
Coach George Karl shivered in the cold of the Pepsi Center parking lot, trying to figure out what players to write in his starting lineup for tonight's game against Memphis. How hard is it to reinvent a team with only 25 games until the playoff field for the Western Conference is set?
"The West has me a little scared," Karl said. "I think whatever happens, we're going to be in the playoffs. That's what I believe."
In the deal, Anthony will walk away from Colorado with his $65 million contract extension and a new luxury address in New York City.
Melo got everything he wanted.
Who's left to pick up the pieces of Denver's broken basketball heart?
www.denverpost.com/kiszla/ci_17448065?source=rsshomecol
We lost one of the most talented players in the NBA, sure. But that's not even close to what hurts the most.
The dirty deed is done. How did the NBA get to be such a nasty business? In order for the Nuggets to stop being held hostage by disgruntled forward Carmelo Anthony, they had to sacrifice hometown hero Chauncey Billups in a blockbuster trade with the New York Knicks. There is relief in Denver, but no joy.
In a thankless task that has consumed every waking minute of every day since being hired, new Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri made the best of a lousy situation, getting a haul of young talent and a No. 1 draft choice from the Knicks. Like every one who loves basketball in Denver, his emotions were rubbed raw by the deal.
"Carmelo Anthony is one of the NBA's fantastic scorers and the player who
Masai Ujiri makes tough decisions. (Andy Cross, Denver Post file )brought life back to Nuggets basketball," Ujiri said Monday, moments after putting finishing details on a trade more than six months in the making. "I'm sad to be the guy who traded Melo. But that's life."
Know what's sad about life in the NBA?
The heart and soul of a basketball city was ripped out, because Anthony bullied the Nuggets, forcing the team to take pennies on the dollar for its franchise player. After giving more than seven years of his life, buzzer-beating thrills and one gloriously deep run in the playoffs, maybe Melo doesn't owe us anything.
But taking along Billups, who grew up in the city's Park Hill neighborhood, in the deal? That's crummy. That's personal.
"The whole Chauncey thing, that's very tough. Trading him is something that makes you not sleep well at night," Ujiri said. "But we had to do what's best for the franchise."
The Nuggets saw how Le- Bron James left Cleveland without hope when he dumped the mistake by the lake for the Miami Heat and a party on South Beach.
Denver was determined not to get LeBron'd.
In a trade that won't be official until the league office gives its stamp of approval this morning, the best the Nuggets could hope for was not having the franchise doomed to failure for the next five years. Mission accomplished.
After being held hostage more than 200 days by Anthony's refusal to sign a $65 million contract extension offered way back in July, the Nuggets got out of this mess with promising New York players Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton and Timofey Mozgov, plus the Knicks' No. 1 draft choice in 2014.
But you couldn't blame Nuggets president Josh Kroenke, who worked alongside with Ujiri in negotiations that would entrap teams from New Jersey to Detroit to Los Angeles in ugly rumors, for feeling like the NBA needs to shut down at season's end to restore order to the league. And you could only imagine the anger of Denver fans now being asked to support a team they don't know for a playoff run. You could forgive everybody in town for feeling in need of a shower after being slimed by the new rules of pro basketball.
On the February night when his fondest basketball wish came true, Anthony sat next to comedian Conan O'Brien in Los Angeles and laughed on television rather than report to his final day of work in Denver.
Billups bolted from the Nuggets' practice facility with a grim face, solemnly refusing to speak with reporters, saying: "Not today, not today, not today." He was headed home to inform his three daughters that Daddy would soon be moving to New York.
Coach George Karl shivered in the cold of the Pepsi Center parking lot, trying to figure out what players to write in his starting lineup for tonight's game against Memphis. How hard is it to reinvent a team with only 25 games until the playoff field for the Western Conference is set?
"The West has me a little scared," Karl said. "I think whatever happens, we're going to be in the playoffs. That's what I believe."
In the deal, Anthony will walk away from Colorado with his $65 million contract extension and a new luxury address in New York City.
Melo got everything he wanted.
Who's left to pick up the pieces of Denver's broken basketball heart?
www.denverpost.com/kiszla/ci_17448065?source=rsshomecol
