Carmelo Anthony still must sign a three-year, $65 million extension in order for the reported trade between the Denver Nuggets and the Nets to go down.
“If he doesn’t sign, he ain’t coming,” a league source said Friday.
The source added: “The whole [Nets] crew is out there [at All-Star weekend in Los Angeles]. I think they want to get this done and I think Denver wants to get it done.”
The Bergen Record reported Friday on its Website that the two teams had agreed upon a deal that was contingent upon Anthony signing the extension.
According to the report, the Nets would get Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Sheldon Williams, Melvin Ely and Renaldo Balkman from Denver, while the Nuggets will receive Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, Troy Murphy, Ben Uzoh and four first-round picks.
The Record reported that Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, general manager Billy King, CEO Brett Yormark and part-owner Jay-Z are in Los Angeles to meet with Anthony, potentially Friday or Saturday.
But Anthony told reporters Friday that no meeting had been set with either the Nets or Knicks, adding the “day is still young,” according to Alan Hahn of Newsday.
As for a potential meeting with Prokhorov and Jay-Z, the source said: “Mikhail’s out there. He’s a very persuasive guy.”
“If I was to meet with that guy, to be honest I really don’t know what I would say,” Anthony told the AP.
If the Nets aren’t able to broker a deal with Anthony, the Knicks figure to be the next best option.
Denver reportedly asked for as many as five key Knicks — Raymond Felton, Landry Fields, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Timofey Mozgov — plus Eddy Curry’s expiring contract and a first-round pick obtained for Anthony Randolph.
That price was too steep earlier this week for the Knicks.
“But I have to look at the end of the trade and say, ‘We’re a good basketball team,'” Knicks president Donnie Walsh said Wednesday. “We didn’t just make a good trade. We have a good basketball team.’ So that’s the object of any trade.”
The league source said he was also surprised the Chicago Bulls wouldn’t part with Joakim Noah in order to land Anthony.
“Chicago wouldn’t give up Joakim Noah,” the source said. “You got [Derrick] Rose, [Carlos] Boozer and ‘Melo, you got an elite team.”
