‘Melo to the Pistons?
Carmelo Anthony (photo. Mannion)Another team has surfaced in the ongoing Carmelo Anthony trade rumors, and it’s the one franchise that he probably should have been playing for all this time anyway: the Pistons.
Mark Kiszla of the The Denver Post cites a league source who says Detroit will be making the call to the Nuggets’ front office to see what it’ll take to get ‘Melo. The Pistons, of course, passed on ‘Melo in the 2003 Draft in favor of Darko.
Meanwhile, South Florida Sun-Sentinel columnist Ira Winderman throws a possible ‘Melo/Pistons deal on the table: Chauncey Billups to Denver straight-up for Anthony.
Is this crazy enough to work? Salary-wise it’d be easy to do (although the Pistons would have to throw in another guy like Amir Johnson to make the money match up exactly), and if Detroit really believes Rodney Stuckey is ready to take over at point guard, it’s not the worst deal for them. They’d go into next year with Stuckey, Rip Hamilton and ‘Melo playing the 1-2-3, and depending on what they’re gonna do with Rasheed, something involving Tayshaun Prince, Jason Maxiell, Antonio McDyess and either ‘Sheed or whoever they trade him for up front. That team can contend in the East without taking a huge step back.
For the Nuggets, the deal would give them a potential lineup of Billups, Allen Iverson, Linas Kleiza, K-Mart and Marcus Camby, with J.R. Smith still coming off the bench. It automatically makes them better defensively, mentally tougher, and with A.I. and Camby running out of years, gives them another proven winner who they don’t have to wait for to develop.
Ultimately, I don’t really see Denver trading a 24-year-old superstar (on the court and as an endorser) for a guy who’s on the other side of 30 and whom you could say is regressing based on this year’s playoffs, but I wouldn’t be mad at this trade at all.
June 9th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Chuck...Haters come in all fashions and forms so bear arms says:
1. J.R smith is a free agent, so he MAY not be back with the nuggets next year.
2. This would be a horrible trade for the nuggets. Giving up 25 points and 7 rebounds a night for a old declining point gaurd who avergaed 16 and 7 assist a game?
I could see them trying to get sheed to clear up some cap space to get someone they really want. I know they can’t keep getting bounced in the first round and they DO need to do something, but I don’t think getting rid of Melo is it? Dude is only 24, and he has a couple more years to go. Everyone on the site agreed last week that Jordan didn’t reach his prime until like 27 or 28 years old. So why rush Melo?
Everyone is looking at Lebron and Wade and trying to compare him to the places they have been, which is unfair. Wade had shaq and Lebron is a freak of nature!
June 9th, 2008 at 9:45 am
doc says:
All these Melo trades are crazy.
June 9th, 2008 at 9:51 am
evan says:
The only teams that can trade for Melo are the same people we put in the KG sweepstakes last year : Chicago, Dallas, GS, Phoenix. As well, whomever is going to do this will take a salary cap beating since Denver will have to force them to take back a bad contract (Martin/Camby).
What ails Melo is mental. Find someone that can coach that and it doesn’t matter where he plays.
June 9th, 2008 at 9:53 am
rangerjohn says:
chuck, smith is not EXACTLY a free agent, he has a 2.3 mil qualifying offer next season unless he declines the offer or the nugs take it back.
i agree though, melo for billups is not a good trade for the nuggets but stranger things have happened.
in the off season i am gonna email the grizleys and suggest they trade gasol for kwame brown pretty much straight up and see if they go for it.
oh wait, never mind that already happened. see you next year in detroit causing the pistons to lose yet another chance at a title melo.
June 9th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Chuck...Haters come in all fashions and forms so bear arms says:
@rangerjohn
I just don’t understand why people beaten up on Melo like that. Jordan didn’t get past the 1st round until his 4th year in the league. They need to give dude a break, they are only sweatin him like that because of Lebron and wades career. Like Wade didn’t have shaq. Lebron did carry his team, but dude is built unlike any athlete to play the sport EVER. 6′8, 44 inch vertical, speed of a point, with the power of a shaq for his size. Melo can put the ball in the hole like not many can, and they would be STUPID to trade him. The nuggets just need a REAL pg, Anthony carter ain’t gone cut it, and neither is iverson. Iverson is a sg not a pg. And they need to stop blaming Melo, cause it’s not his fault.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Icy says:
Freak no!
I love Chauncey but Melo is destined to catch on some day and become #2 option on a team that distributes the Rock well and make some noise.
Billups is the biggest Piston not named Wallace that is lackadaisical and unfocused. That is NOT what this Nuggets team needs. BEsides, he’s not the pass the rock type and that’s what they need.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:18 am
fallinup says:
Melo to Pistons is a bad move. The Nuggets faults are due to them being in the stacked ass West and ending up playing the Spurs in the first round in what seems like every damn year. I doubt Joe Dumars is even entertaining an idea like this. And Denver would be dumb to take Billups seeing as he seems to be on the declining part of his career.
Give Melo a break. Blame Denver management for having a less than cap friendly roster and not being able to draft.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:30 am
djKianoosh says:
what the nuggets needed to do was keep a serviceable guy like Steve Blake from leaving last summer. they let him go even though at the end of the previous year he had seemed to jell well with the team and AI. not saying he’s the defensive stopper they needed either, but that’s on Melo not being a great defender. Look how the celtics are gettin it done. That is the gap the Nuggets have to make up. Billups for Melo won’t get that done..
June 9th, 2008 at 10:35 am
rangerjohn says:
i dont like melo, he is a problem, he can shoot and score but damn the guy might as well not even be on the floor at the defensive end. the pistons have prided themselves on their d and they want to trade a good defensive point for a NO D scorer?
melo is the next mcgrady imo, the kid can score he will learn some defense but he is not a winner, he will go NO WHERE no mater what team he is on. the reason i say that, he wants money, and he wants points, there is not a title contending team who is going to pay what he wants and then let him run the show.
would the lakers take him? celtics? spurs? NOPE, all of those teams know he is just not a fit anywhere.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:36 am
rangerjohn says:
oh and i forgot, the pistons dont want anyone who is gonna punch and run, they want somoene who is gonan get in there and mix it up. lmao he should be a track star not a boxer
June 9th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Zach says:
Ever since the finals all I’ve heard is that Billups is declining. Lets not forget dude pulled a hammy which is a lingering injury. Before the Orlando series (where he got injured) NO ONE was hatin on him. As a Pistons fan I don’t want to see this done. Ship Sheed out to Denver, but not Billups
June 9th, 2008 at 10:41 am
DaPro says:
Melo is too good of a scorer, when he puts it all together offensively he can be the most lethal player in the L
Melo needs a mental check by a coach who will set him straight
@ Chuck-I’m with you brotha. Melo is a freak athlete too. His combination of size and strength is difficult for anyone to handle
June 9th, 2008 at 10:42 am
yallallreadyknow says:
why the hell would the pistons want carmelo anthony? he is one dimensional. just a scorer. brings nothing else to the table.
i like anthony, but i gotta call a spade a spade. he is the most overrated ’superstar’ in the league.
i dont find him to be as good as people perceive him to be.
detroit pistons should pass on him….again
June 9th, 2008 at 10:43 am
DaPro says:
@RJ (rangerjohn)
That’s a low blow to Mac, Melo’s problem isn’t the same as T-Mac. Melo has tools around him but he doesn’t play in the flow of the game most of the time
June 9th, 2008 at 10:51 am
rangerjohn says:
dapro,
lol
tracy has had some pretty nice tools around him too through his career, yao, carter, grant hill? he has had some decent teams, and has gone nowhere just like melo. those 2 are one in the same to me.
the only 2 players melo has had really are AI and camby, and camby IMO is nobody. he rebounds and blocks but he doesnt run, he cant do those things with out a set defense, and ai and melo cant co-exist.
i will say that if tracy where on the nuggets he MIGHT get a little farther then melo, he might win 2 games in a playoff series.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
DaPro says:
Rj,
It was Grant Hill’s corpse, I think they played a total of 20+ games together
Yao is solid but I see an international conspiracy with that dude
It was early in his career with VC
You hitting below the belt today RJ lol
June 9th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Big Shot BOB says:
Everybodies talking about what a bad deal for the Nuggets it would be. What about the Pistons…no way I give up chauncey from that team. He’s the motor and the floor general for that team. When they won that championship he was the finals MVP. That was just 3 years ago. I say give up Tayshaun straight up for Melo. It would give the Nuggets the defensive presence they need and Tay’s not that bad of a scorer. Homey can give you at least 16 points a night. And that’s when he was the fourth option imagine if they gave him the green light…he probably could put up 20 ppg. Plus Detroit looks much better with a starting line up of CB, Rip, Melo, Sheed, Dice.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
D.H. says:
LOL . . . Tayshaun for Melo, as an owner the first thing you do if that trade is made is fire the GM no questions asked.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Juanito says:
whoever invented this rumor is a moron. Melo would be a terrible fit for this team.
June 9th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Tim says:
anyone know what Okafor is making in salary…and what would have to happen to have salaries match to get him and send Sheed to Charlotte with Lary Brown so they can whine themselves to sleep together with all their crying foul. Okafor on the Pistons would be good I think.
June 9th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Tim says:
and for everyone who isn’t around Detroit.. Chauncey and Sheed are the top two to be shipped out of anyone. Rip will stay as with Tayshaun and Dyess. I really feel Stuckey will be starting next year. The team ran better with Stuckey at the point against Boston IMO. Dude gets a solid jumper and he’s unguardable. He’s D Wade without the injuries.
June 9th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
rangerjohn says:
lmao
tim really? stuckey is wade with out the inuries? unguardable? really? what did he average this season? how about the post season? 8 points and 3 assists in the post season, in 23 minutes. wade with out the injuries? lmao come on man now you sound like youngfed.
while wade is somewhat injury prone he still averaged twice as many points, twice as many assists, and twice as many rebounds while shooting 7% better in his 1st season.
lets be realistic, stuckey might be a good back-up headed towards a starting job at the point but he will not be another wade injuries or not.
June 9th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Tim says:
@ rangerjohn
thats true. I’m saying he’ll be Wade without injuries in a couple years… not saying he was there already…cause that is downright crazy. He’ll get there soon though.
and in his first season…was D Wade getting to play behind one of the better backcourts in the league. Not that I remember.
June 9th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Tim says:
in about 5 years people will be saying someone is the next Rodney Stuckey….thats what I’m getting at lol.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
rangerjohn says:
tim
i think your a bit nuts man, while stuckey is a nice point, and he is learning a lot behind billups, there is NO WAY anyone says so and so is the “next stuckey” unless they are talking about a servicable point guard and nothing more. the kid is not going to be an allstar, he got out played by rondo hands down. he got played pretty close to a draw with a smaller weaker jameer nelson. sure those guys have played longer but damn rondo is only in his 2nd yr.
stuckey is in need of playing time to learn and he isnt going to get that in the next 2-3 yrs. billups is not going anywhere.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Tim says:
alot of people think I’m a bit nuts. But oh well…I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
I will say this…he has all the tools to definitely be an All Star…at times he was carving up the Celtics like it was Thanksgiving dinner.
Besides, they can always be like the Spurs and just bring Billups off the bench. haha.