Philosophizing on league-wide issues and offering previews of upcoming opponents, ‘On the NBA’ is our new general NBA column. Today’s feature looks at tomorrow’s opponent, the Denver Nuggets. – Ed.
This summer, David Kahn became one of many general managers guilty of betting on Darko Milicic, even if Kahn’s wager was about seven years too late to be deemed anything other than hilarious. Minnesota’s mad scientist/crackpot had been convinced that Milicic would open up the court for his team’s new Triangle offense as employed by Phil Jackson disciple Kurt Rambis; to clear space for Milicic, in both the coach’s mind and very literally on the court, Kahn shopped his best player for the last two years, Al Jefferson. It was a move roundly criticized that sent bloggers into hysterical laughter, but this wasn’t the first time. No, I’m sure plenty of Detroit basketball heads (and most who follow this sport) could recount the first time an NBA GM found the Darko story so enthralling that he had to pick him up instead of a world-beater, definite future All-Star. The Pistons had just been booted from the Eastern Conference Finals and blessed with the second pick in the 2003 NBA Draft thanks to a heady trade made seven years prior with the Grizzlies, those masters of foresight. Obviously on the precipice of being a championship contender, Detroit had options going into the draft: opt for a future superstar that could be nurtured by the currently successful nucleus and new all-world coach Larry Brown or add a league-ready impact player to fortify the team’s title chances. Joe Dumars knew the risks involved, but a seven-footer with soft hands, handles and a sweet stroke seemed too good to be true (there is no irony in the last sentence written. Not a lick). The choice was made; Darko was chosen over Carmelo Anthony, and the Detroit Pistons won its title that very year and lived happily ever after with its Serbian wunkerkind.
No matter how the story of that draft will be retold in history (“He passed on Melo, Bosh and Wade. At least Sam Bowie got hurt”), the choice was Anthony or Darko, not the other guys that ended up being Heat (Ugh. That’s a pretty obnoxious plural form). Well, to be more exact, in less heady NBA circles, the talk was LeBron or Carmelo. While the LeBron James hype machine had already been kick-started, Anthony provided the familiar face of a superstar freshman that had just led his Orangemen to March glory; the people knew and wanted Melo. He had the strength, the buttery touch on that jumper that someone his size shouldn’t and a demeanor that shouted “winner”, even as his cornrows made the believers uncomfortable. But it wasn’t to be. The LeBron/Cleveland marriage seemed cartoonish in its serendipity (writing about this draft and not laughing at how stupid we are is proving damn near impossible); therefore, the onus fell to Dumars, who made the “smart” move and tried to build for his club’s future. In one fell swoop, Carmelo Anthony had been invalidated; he was no team’s savior nor its future. Rather, he was the steal, the guy Denver was really lucky to have; this designation still follows him, always appearing as the “other”, the offbrand superstar. To this day, Anthony can’t escape being the undercard, as his recent drama a rushed-to-market “Summer of LeBron II” (why not when the original did so well?). As such, his story has been so cynical, so devoid of the naïveté that wafted around the suggests LeBron-can’t-leave-home aspect of this offseason, and this storm of ravenous sports journalists and dissatisfaction has left the Denver Nuggets as the NBA’s most interesting sideshow, one seemingly headed for a precipitous drop down the NBA hierarchy.
While the Nuggets obviously looks like a mockery of an organization through all of its media interactions and general state of turmoil in the past six months, it cannot be ignored that this team, given a dedicated Carmelo Anthony, can appear quite fearsome at times. The options on offense dried up in last year’s first round disappointment against the Jazz, but a repeat from that batch of scorers seems unlikely. Added to that are the progressions of both Ty Lawson and Arron Afflalo, more notably, and suddenly, this team doesn’t appear half-bad now that it actually has its coach back. It pounded those same Jazz (well, not really those same Jazz) in Wednesday’s opener at home, as Anthony received roars as he exited the floor early in the fourth because of the rout. The notion that the turmoil has somehow fueled the team seems disingenuous, but I think that George Karl will definitely have his team’s full attention this year, meaning Anthony could be part of a team experience he didn’t feel last year. The question then becomes, what the hell does Melo want? In a recent feature piece by Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, Anthony made clear his intentions to Spears:
“They want to sit down and talk, but my thing is it’s way beyond this year,” Anthony told Yahoo! Sports after scoring a team-high 23 points in the Nuggets’ victory. ”It ain’t got nothing to do with the new GM, Josh, the players. For me, I feel it’s a time for change.
”If I do nothing now, I’m never going to do anything. I feel like my time is now to make a decision if I want to leave or if I want to stay.”
This isn’t just a change of scenery for Anthony; it’s a change of a storyline. He doesn’t want this forever, as no one wants to forever play the second-banana to a man whose legacy isn’t even close to annexing others around his for purposes unknown (go check out that second paragraph and notice all of the LeBron references. Their stories are inseparable in the worst way for Melo). A move to the big city could change that, at least in the man’s mind. He may regret it, but he knows he’ll be dragging that chain-and-ball with him no matter what happens in Denver. But he, Chris Paul and Amar’e? That could be the new plot to his tale, even if he doesn’t quite get how much it sounds like the old one. Until he gets to live out his fantasy of big city life, Carmelo Anthony or, more accurately, the Carmelo Anthony saga threatens to undermine further this mess of a team, sending its brilliant but volatile (and definitely brilliantly volatile) pieces wayward. But even that hasn’t happened yet. So until then, we wait and prod and poke and feast. The show goes on (and well, for now), but Anthony can’t help but to look for a better one, one that’ll tell let him write a different ending.
