An Ideal Melo Trade Scenario

We all know the Denver Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony will only sign a contract extension if he's traded to the New York Knicks. We also know that a lot of people are turned off from trying to acquire him because of his reluctance to commit long term to any city except New York.


However let's pretend that Melo's not as picky with his teams. Let's pretend he just wants to move to a team with a younger core of players but also at the same time be competitive enough to give him a better chance of winning a championship. Here's a trade I came up with this afternoon at work (I know, what was I doing playing with ESPN's Trade Machine during work hours - but it was a slow day for me).


http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=65sol3h


Here's what happens. Denver trades Carmelo Anthony and Chris Andersen to Milwaukee. The Bucks send Larry Sanders, Michael Redd, Carlos Delfino, and Luc Mbah-a-Moute, and some draft picks to the Nuggets.


Why would Denver do it? Larry Sanders and Mbah-a-Moute are both young promising players. Michael Redd is an expiring contract, and Carlos Delfino has proven to be a versatile wing player with three-point range. Plus if Milwaukee doesn't make the playoff this year there's a chance they can get the lottery pick of Milwaukee. Plus Denver also gets rid of Chris Andersen's long term contract and they gain cap flexibility once Redd's contract expires.


The Bucks would then get the perfect offensive weapon to complement Andrew Bogut. Bogut can focus more on the defensive end, plus he would be more lethal on the low block with a scorer like Melo around. Brandon Jennings would also be able to focus more on his playmaking rather than trying to be the main scorer. I could envision a lineup of Bogut, Ilyasova, Melo, John Salmons, and Brandon Jennings as the starters. Corey Maggette could be the sixth man, with Drew Gooden and Keyon Dooling rounding out a possible eight man rotation. You could even consider Chris Douglas-Roberts for a solid nine man rotation.


There you have it.


No, I am not a Bucks fan. I am a Melo fan. But I am also an NBA fan and I love playing virtual GM.


Out.