Carmelo Anthony was just the first domino in Denver.
His trade will be followed by host of moves in the next 48 hours — then again next summer — as virtually the entire roster gets overhauled. Denver has from a team that thought it had a chance to push the Lakers to one that is rebuilding in one trade. It’s not quite full-fledged fire sale in Denver, but like a used car sale no reasonable offer will be refused.
There are reports that before the day is out Raymond Felton and Timofey Mozgov will be flipped for more picks and parts. There were rumors that the two would be headed back east to the Nets, but we are hearing conflicting things about that trade. The move was to be basically just for picks, which Denver clearly wants but they may be able to get more for a quality point guard in Felton and a good center prospect in Mozgov. But if not the Nets, somewhere is likely. The Nuggets will be taking a lot of calls for these two.
There is a lot of interest in Nene, the Brazilian center, and half the league has already called the Nuggets about him. Denver wants to keep him and is trying to convince him to sign an extension and be at the heart of their rebuilding efforts, according to Marc Stein at ESPN. But Nene (like Anthony) can opt out of his deal at the end of this season, leaving $11.6 million on the table. He likely could get that as a free agent if not more. Denver may try to work an extension and if that does not work trade him around the draft, not at the deadline. Houston had interest in him before and David Aldridge at NBA.com said that is still a potential landing spot.
There also will be a lot of interest in the skills and tattoos of J.R. Smith. He is a good wing player who can score (11.2 points per game this season), hit the three (34 percent this season) and defend. Plus, he is in the last year of a $6.7 million deal. Unlike Nene, Smith is not seen as part of the long-term future so they will listen to offers. That said, if the Nuggets keep him Smith becomes a good fantasy basketball pickup because he is going to get a lot more shots as Denver tries to figure out where its scoring comes from.
Al Harrington is at the top of the list of guys they want to move — and ones that they may be stuck with. He’s a 31-year-old forward who has four more years and is owed $27.6 million AFTER this season. That is a big, ugly contract, which is why they were desperate to push him into the Carmelo deals. They will look hard for someone to take him — he’s giving Denver 11 points and 5 rebounds a game off the bench — but with that contract there is little interest right now.