Just four days after Danilo Gallinari outplayed Carmelo Anthony in a Nuggets win in New York City, the Italian forward has signed a four-year $42 million dollar extension to stay in Denver.
The Nuggets managed to grind out a 119-114 double-overtime win in NYC thanks to Gallinari’s dominant play. Gallo outplayed Melo in virtually every aspect of the game on Saturday night in Manhattan.
With a healthy and energized George Karl at the helm, the Nuggets may not be far off from realizing their potential as an elite Western Conference contender.
“I’ve always said Denver is the place I want to end my career,†said Karl after inking his new contract. “This puts me one step closer to achieving that goal.â€
Anthony took his shots here, and either through circumstance or generosity Carmelo replenished Denver with a whole host of playable/tradable young talents as he left. We should all think on him fondly, welcome him back once a year with cheers, and not begrudge him his opportunity to play every other night in the Manhattan basketball theater that is Madison Square Gardens.
We in the Denver sports community wish Melo the best of luck in New York, and should do so with class and sincere gratitude. Anthony’s desire to sign a lucrative contract extension this season, along with his willingness to involve the Nets in pressure-filled negotiations over All Star Weekend, made possible a trade that gives the Nuggets a chance to avoid falling out of perennial-playoff-contender status.
The Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks nearly swapped their entire rosters to get the deal done, but the deal is done, according to multiple reports.
In the deal, Denver gets Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, the Knicks 2014 first-round draft pick, the Warriors’ 2012 second-round pick, the Warriors’ 2013 second-round pick and $3 million in cash. Heading to New York are Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman.
In our first episode, Jason introduces the team and get things started by talking about the hottest topic in sports today – what’s going to happen with Carmelo Anthony? Ian Cerveny gives us a roundup of what the 2 principal players are offering, then Dan Olson and Preston Underwood join in as we discuss which scenarios we think are likely to play out, and what we think happens to Smooth – aka, Chauncey Billups – in this whole deal.
Given the dramatic nature of these negotiations and the consequences of deals falling through, Anthony’s Melo-drama has quickly become the All Star Weekend Main Event.
The exit of Bearup will continue a complete restructuring of the Nuggets’ front office that began last season when Denver declined to offer new contracts to executive Rex Champan and General Manager Mark Warkentien.
