The Russian owner of the New Jersey Nets, Mikhail Prokhorov, was expected to set up a face-to-face meeting with Denver Nuggets superstar Carmelo Anthony this week to convince him that coming to the Nets would be the right move to make for his future. However, Prokhorov surprised just about everyone last night when he announced that the Nets were cancelling their meeting with Carmelo and walking away from the deal.
It was painfully obvious with the longer that his drama dragged out that Carmelo did not want to sign with the New Jersey Nets. He wants to sign with the New York Knicks and no one else, but the Knicks do not have the right combination of players and draft picks available to give to the Denver Nuggets in return for Carmelo Anthony. At the same time, the Knicks do not want to over pay for Carmelo, and they are playing relatively well right now. So as much as Knicks fans may want it to happen, and as much as Carmelo Anthony may want to come to New York, it still may not happen.
This was a smart move by the New Jersey Nets. No one likes to get dumped. If you are dating someone and they start telling their friends they are going to dump you, you save face by dumping them first. If you know you are going to get rejected by someone, you convince yourself that you never liked them anyway. Now the Nets can move on and figure out how to rebuild their team.
I'm hearing some talk on the Mike and Mike show on ESPN Radio this morning that some think this is a bluff by Prokhorov, where if Carmelo thinks the deal is dead, he may panic with no other deals on the table and try to revive talks with the Nets, but I don't think so. If Prokhorov had the meeting with Carmelo and was able to convince him to come to the Nets, he never would have been able to live it down, and it would have been impossible for any NBA free agent to take him seriously.
By the way, in what may be a pure coincidence, Carmelo Anthony scored 35 points last night, and the New Jersey Nets broke a losing streak by beating the Utah Jazz. This is probably the best thing for everyone involved at this time.
Nets Drop Carmelo Anthony Deal [ESPN]
It was painfully obvious with the longer that his drama dragged out that Carmelo did not want to sign with the New Jersey Nets. He wants to sign with the New York Knicks and no one else, but the Knicks do not have the right combination of players and draft picks available to give to the Denver Nuggets in return for Carmelo Anthony. At the same time, the Knicks do not want to over pay for Carmelo, and they are playing relatively well right now. So as much as Knicks fans may want it to happen, and as much as Carmelo Anthony may want to come to New York, it still may not happen.
This was a smart move by the New Jersey Nets. No one likes to get dumped. If you are dating someone and they start telling their friends they are going to dump you, you save face by dumping them first. If you know you are going to get rejected by someone, you convince yourself that you never liked them anyway. Now the Nets can move on and figure out how to rebuild their team.
I'm hearing some talk on the Mike and Mike show on ESPN Radio this morning that some think this is a bluff by Prokhorov, where if Carmelo thinks the deal is dead, he may panic with no other deals on the table and try to revive talks with the Nets, but I don't think so. If Prokhorov had the meeting with Carmelo and was able to convince him to come to the Nets, he never would have been able to live it down, and it would have been impossible for any NBA free agent to take him seriously.
By the way, in what may be a pure coincidence, Carmelo Anthony scored 35 points last night, and the New Jersey Nets broke a losing streak by beating the Utah Jazz. This is probably the best thing for everyone involved at this time.
Nets Drop Carmelo Anthony Deal [ESPN]
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
