http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=mc-anthonywish090810
i love taj but i would do that trade in a heartbeat. throw in a 1st rounder with it

Lou, Taj, JJ and picks for Melo?

Ummmmm yes? Probably too good to be true.

Definitely too good to be true.

Agreed. The conversation with the Nuggets will start and end with Noah.

I pointed this out at Soxtalk but it's worth noting here as well.

In any deal for Anthony, to match the salaries, the Bulls would either need to include Deng or Boozer; no one else on their team is paid enough, and it can't be done currently with multiple pieces (assuming the Bulls don't include Rose).

So, let's hypothesize...Deng and Noah for Anthony. It works, and it clears a couple million from the Nuggets salary this season, and thus saves them a bit of money under the tax for this year.

However...Joakim is a restricted FA next summer and would play under a qualifying offer if no contract is agreed on beforehand. Deng's salary increases by about $1 million a year through 2013-2014. When you factor in an extension to Noah though...if Noah gets about $10 million per year (a number which you could legitimately believe would be a good deal for the team), suddenly, starting in 2011-2012, the Nuggets turn out to have taken on $23 million+ in salary. They clear $2 million this year, but until the end of that deal (under the current structure) they'd be committing to take on $7 million+ a year in additional salary and $7 million+ in additional luxury tax payments. Basically, they're paying another max deal in order to make that trade. And for every $1 million Noah gets above $10 mil per year, each of those numbers goes up by $1 million. And if the Luxury tax level drops like it did this year, the hit is even bigger.

I can't speak to Denver's financial situations, but that's an awful lot of money they'd be shelling out to get rid of Anthony.

Agreed. I've talked about this with some of my Denver friends and I've made it clear Deng HAS to be in a Melo deal if a deal gets done at all. So a tip to what Denver is interested in is if they talk Deng in a deal at all...that means they'll take on Deng if they HAVE to.

We've touched on this in comparison to Rudy Gay's 6/80 compared to Lou's 4/51...Lou's deal has the potential to be a very good one. The problem is we all know (including Denver) he can't stay healthy and is a below average shooter outside of 17 feet.

Overall, I think Luol Deng's deal may turn out to be an "average" deal if he can ever stay healthy. He's paid like a top 10 SF in the league, and when you consider defense, if he stays on the floor he probably is a top 10 SF in the league. Once it was clear that the 3 some was having their fun in Florida, filling the SF spot with Deng at his current contract level isn't a terrible place to be as long as we don't lose Rose because of the Luxury tax.

Link
For now, I think the Bulls ought to offer up Taj, Johnson, Deng, and a draft pick and let Denver see if they can beat that deal. If it's on the table, then Denver will still probably give you a call even if they get a better offer from someone else to see if the Bulls will up their deal, and that's when you can really try to work something out.

Why would Denver want Noah when they already have Nene at center? Doesn't seem like a sensible fit to me.

Renewing the Anthony rumors...supposedly Anthony is now saying that the only team he'll sign with if he's traded is the Knickerbockers.

*Yawn*

They can have him.