http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2506579 Melo staying in Denver, says he'll accept contract offer By Marc Stein ESPN.com The first player of the offseason to make a verbal commitment on signing a new contract is Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony. Carmelo Anthony Small Forward Denver Nuggets Profile 2006 SEASON STATISTICS GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT% 80 26.5 4.9 2.7 .481 .808 The Nuggets formally offered Anthony a five-year maximum contract extension worth an estimated $80 million on Saturday morning and Anthony didn't hesitate to accept. "We've informed the Nuggets that we intend to sign on July 12," Calvin Andrews, Anthony's agent, told ESPN.com. "Carmelo is very, very grateful for the commitment Mr. Kroenke [Stan Kroenke] has made to him. "Carmelo's fondness for the city of Denver, his relationship with the organization ... the thought of going elsewhere never entered his thinking." Teams were allowed to extend offers to free agents as of 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning, but deals can't advance past the stage of verbal agreement until July 12. That's the day when the NBA is scheduled to announce the new salary cap for the 2006-07 season, clearing teams to make signings and trades official. Anthony is expected to formally sign with the Nuggets at a July 12 news conference. He'll earn $4.7 million next season in the final year of his rookie contract before the extension kicks in the 2007-08 season, with the exact amount of the extension to be determined when the salary cap is established for that season. The 22-year-old has averaged 22.8 points per game in his first three seasons, leading the Nuggets to playoffs in all three, and averaged 26.5 points last season to rank eighth in the league in scoring. The other top players from Anthony's draft class Cleveland's LeBron James, Toronto's Chris Bosh and NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade of Miami were offered similar extensions in the early hours of Saturday and are also expected to sign their extensions this month. Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here.
I agree he doesnt really have the court presence of a max player, but he is very clutch and its hard to argue with 27 pts a game.
wow so the nuggets will have melo+kmart+camby, cant imagin they will be in the freeagency market for a while.
Melo made some strides last season, emerging as a very clutch player. He's definitely way more max than guys like Martin, Joe Johnson, etc... That's the problem...too many teams set dumbass precedents in weak FA classes, resulting in overpayment.
Western Conference. 26.5 points a game last year. Disfunctional team. Never missed the playoffs. Melo has his faults, to be sure, be he is most definitely a max player.
I like Carmelo.......... was even considering a pair of Melo's today........ but I question whether Denver is really going anywhere. Sure, they haven't missed the playoffs since he's been there, but what's that teams identity?? & what's it going to take to get them over the hump?? I've got more respecr for the mavs, and I don't like the Mavs..... but I can see what they are trying to do......
I like Melo but it was very obvious he worked extra hard last summer and last season for his upcoming contract. If he regresses or doesn't take another step we can put Melo in the same class with other NBA players who work the system. But the Nuggets had to offer him the max because of his production.
