Carmelo Anthony Says He Doesn't Want to Talk to Nets

Filed under: Nets, Nuggets, Pistons, NBA Rumors

It's no surprise the Denver Nuggets would give permission to another team to talk to one of their stars about being traded to that team. They did it just over two years ago with Allen Iverson.

The Nuggets evidently have granted permission to the New Jersey Nets to speak to Carmelo Anthony about possibly joining them. Having such a conversation, a move first reported Sunday by NBA.com, is considered important because it's unlikely the Nets would do a deal if Anthony does not agree to sign an extension with New Jersey.

The only problem is Anthony says he knows nothing about any possible meeting with the Nets. And he says he wouldn't want to meet with them anyhow.

"I don't want to talk to nobody,'' Anthony said after his team's 110-97 loss at San Antonio on Sunday night. "I let the front office handle that type of stuff. It ain't my job to be talking to New Jersey, New York, the Lakers, Dallas, no one. That's not my job to do.''

Anthony said nobody in Denver's front office has said anything to him about possibly talking to the Nets. Anthony on Saturday had said he didn't have any interest in that.

"What am I going to meet with (Nets majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov) for?'' Anthony said.

ESPN.com reported Sunday that Prokhorov and minority owner Jay-Z are most likely to make a face-to-face pitch to Anthony on Tuesday at an undisclosed location.

Anthony has said he believes it's tampering to talk to another team. But it isn't if that team is granted permission.

Before a Nov. 3, 2008, trade of Iverson to Detroit, the Nuggets gave Pistons executive Joe Dumars permission to speak to Iverson on the phone. The conversation took place Oct. 30, 2008, and Dumars came away willing to make a deal in which Chauncey Billups was sent to the Nuggets and the Pistons got Iverson.

That trade sure worked out well for the Nuggets, who advanced that season to the Western Conference finals, while it was disastrous for Detroit, ending its run as a title contender. But there certainly would be less optimism this time in Denver if Anthony is traded, perhaps along with Billups, a Denver native and hometown hero.

 

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Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2011/01/16/report-nuggets-grant-nets-permission-to-speak-with-carmelo-anth/

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