Carmelo Anthony weighing Denver Nuggets' extension offer

Carmelo Anthony weighing Denver Nuggets' extension offer

By Chris Dempsey
The Denver Post

HIGHLANDS RANCH — Carmelo Anthony's whirlwind summer tour stopped in Denver on Saturday — Highlands Ranch, actually — where his annual basketball camp finished a successful day.

But the buzz behind the loads of smiling kids was the same: Will Melo be a Nugget beyond next season?

Anthony, the Nuggets' superstar forward, addressed the issue in general in a talk with kids and parents in attendance at ThunderRidge High School, and in depth soon thereafter.

The conclusion? Patience.

Anthony has no intention of taking immediate action on a three-year, $65 million contract extension offer from the Nuggets. The offer was put on the table in June and, to this point, is a standing offer.

"I could wake up tomorrow and they could snatch it off the table," Anthony said. "I don't know. I don't know what their mind-set is."

Asked whether he had a timetable for signing the extension, Anthony matter-of-factly said "No."

Asked whether he would sign the contract at all, Anthony hedged.

"I'm just taking my time with it," he said. "Obviously, everybody knows I'm loyal to the Denver Nuggets community and to the Denver Nuggets. I've shown that over my seven-year stint here. I don't think anybody can question that. But at this point in time, I have to do what's best for me and my family. I'm just taking my time, figuring out if I want to take that extension or not."

And Anthony can pretty much take as much time as he wants to make a decision whether or not to sign the deal. He actually has a couple of options on his plate. He can sign the contract or pick up his player option for 2011-12, which pays $18.5 million. Either way, he doesn't have to make any moves until June 30, 2011. As of now, there is no deadline imposed by the Nuggets.

So, it's a waiting game. Anthony got married this summer. He's traveled all over, going from New York to Puerto Rico to Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., to name a few stops. And he's not done, as he finishes a summer full of commitments.

Anthony said a new collective bargaining agreement carries "a lot" of weight in his decision. Depending on the layout of the new CBA — if there is one by the time the current pact ends next summer — Anthony could stand to make considerably less money on a contract extension than what's currently being offered.

He's attended meetings between the players association and owners in Dallas during All-Star Weekend last season and in New York last week. The most recent meeting between the two sides showed a glimmer of hope in a situation that appears to be heading toward a lockout following next season.

"We want to come to an agreement," Anthony said. "We just want to go about it the right way. There's a little bit of a light at the end of the tunnel now."

But of more immediate concern to Anthony is the state of the Nuggets. They fired executives Mark Warkentien and Rex Chapman. They signed free agents Al Harrington and Shelden Williams. The team has kept him in the loop on a new general manager hiring.

But, Anthony said, the new GM will have little to no effect on his decision to sign.

"I think my decision is my decision," Anthony said. "I don't think it's based on who is in the front office or anything like that. I'm going to make my decision based on my feelings."

Still, Anthony said, "It's good to make me feel a part of what's going on over there. In the past I didn't want to be a part of those decisions because it was just too much to focus on that and focus on what I gotta do. But now, it's serious business."

He talked to Nuggets coach George Karl and expects him back next season. Anthony believes there still is a championship contender waiting to emerge in Denver.

"We still have the same guys on our team that we went to the Western Conference finals with two years ago," Anthony said. "Whatever happened last year — whether people say it was George Karl's sickness, injuries, whatever it may be — we didn't get there.

"Now everybody panics. The panic button is on, GMs get fired, it's just a lot that goes on with losing. Hopefully we get back on the right track. Kenyon (Martin) is rehabbing right now, (Chris Andersen) is rehabbing. . . . But everybody seems like they are trying to do what's right to get back."

Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com

http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_15782966

 

Three-time All-Star enjoying summer, weighing all options

Anthony open to long-term commitment with Nuggets

By Aaron J. Lopez, Nuggets.com, 8-14-10


Commitment has been a theme for Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony this summer. He committed to longtime fiancée La La Vazquez at their wedding in July, and he recently committed to playing for Team USA in the 2012 London Olympics.

The Nuggets could be next on the list, but Anthony said Saturday that he wants to take his time before deciding whether to sign a three-year contract extension that would keep him in Denver through the 2014-15 season.

“Obviously everybody knows that I’m loyal to the Denver community and to the Denver Nuggets. I’ve shown that over my seven-year stint here. I don’t think nobody can question that,” Anthony said during a break at his annual basketball camp. “But at this point in time, I’ve got to do what’s best for me and my family. If it’s taking my time, figuring out if I want to take that extension or not, then that’s what I’ve got to do.”

Anthony, an All-NBA second-team selection in 2009-10, has two years left on his current contract with the Nuggets but can opt out of his final season and become a free agent next summer. The New York Knicks are the team most often rumored as a future destination for the Brooklyn-born Anthony.

“I’ve been hearing that for five years,” Anthony said with a laugh.

Asked if he would like to play in New York, Anthony declined to take the bait: “I’m a Denver Nugget, man. I’m here. I’m with the Nuggets. I don’t become a free agent until next year – if I decide not to take that extension.”

Anthony has until June 30, 2011, to sign a contract extension. As he weighs his options, the Nuggets are in a transition period. Coach George Karl is returning to health after battling throat cancer, and Denver is in search of a new general manager after the contracts of executives Rex Chapman and Mark Warkentien were not renewed.

“They’ve got to do what they’ve got to do as far as thinking what’s best for the team,” Anthony said of the front-office change. “I’m a player. That’s all I know. I don’t really know what decisions came into firing those people or hiring those people. I try to stay away from that.”

Anthony also declined to criticize his friend and Team USA teammate LeBron James for leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers and signing with the Miami Heat. The Heat also added free-agent Chris Bosh to play alongside James and All-Star guard Dwyane Wade.

“People want to win,” Anthony said. “I think that’s the ultimate factor – winning. I think (James) feels like right now the Miami Heat have a chance of winning one championship or multi-championships. I think in Cleveland he felt – I don’t know, I’m just assuming – he probably felt that he did it for a long time and he was getting there year in and year out and he just couldn’t get over the hump.

“That’s his decision, man. I can’t question his decision and how he went about it. Obviously he had a reason why he did it.”

James’ decision to leave Cleveland after seven years is a primary reason fueling the fear that Anthony will leave Denver in a similar manner next summer. The Nuggets’ success on the court likely will play a factor in his thinking; they made the Western Conference finals in 2009 and are riding a string of three consecutive 50-win seasons.

Denver added versatile forward Al Harrington to the roster this summer. Harrington is a proven scorer who can take some of the defensive focus away from Anthony, who doesn’t mind sharing some of the offensive burden.

“Al Harrington can definitely score the basketball,” he said. “I’m getting old (26), man. Scoring 30 a night, I’m past that.”

Anthony is a little more stingy when it comes to sharing his jersey number. Former Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall recently said he wants to try out for the Heat or Nuggets if there’s an NFL lockout in 2011. He and Anthony both wear No. 15.

“He can’t get 15,” Anthony said. “That’s all I’m going to say. He can come tryout, but he can’t get 15.”

Melo’s stronghold on No. 15 would be a welcome sight for the Nuggets. That would mean he once again had made a commitment.

http://www.nba.com/nuggets/features/nuggets_anthony_20100814.html

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Contact Aaron J. Lopez at alopez@pepsicenter.com