It is clear that the Nuggets intend to trade Carmelo Anthony prior to the February trade deadline. It is also no secret that everything hinges on whether or not he will sign a contract extension.

If Melo signs, more viable trade options will present themselves to Denver. If not, a short list of franchises will likely still attempt to acquire the star small forward and immediately focus to seduce him into signing a long term deal with their franchise.

The oldest, and yet most constantly resurfacing rumor, has Carmelo Anthony heading to New Jersey in exhchange for the combination of Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, and Kris Humphries.

Gone baby gone!

If this deal does happen, Denver can also kiss Chauncey BIllups goodbye. Billups will undoubtedly make a demand to be moved to a team with a chance at contention, rather than stick around while Denver assimilates “New Jersey Nets 2.0.” Following this logic furthermore raises the following questions for the Denver Nuggets to answer:

• Where can Chauncey be sent to, and what can they get in return?
• If you can trade Billups, What about Kenyon Martin?
• Can you retain Nene, or will he be the next to make demands?
• Will Denver finally be able to rid themselves of J.R. Smith by packaging him into the deal?
• If they acquire Devin Harris, what will this mean or Ty Lawson’s development?

This is no easy task for Denver’s management to undertake, but there is absolutely zero doubt that this is their only option. It’s also safe to assume that there will be some sort of multi-team deal involving shipping Billups elsewhere.

I can see Devin Harris being shipped out to a third party so the Nuggets can bring in more youth via the draft, and also leave the starting point guard position open for Ty Lawson.

I see Denver attempting to retain Lawson, Favors, Nene, Afflalo, and every other young player with a rookie contract, opting to trade away anyone from fan favorite Chris Andersen on down.

Folks, I am talking about Denver having a major reconstructive procedure to this Denver roster. Imagine the Nuggets are a drug lord who must go into hiding to avoid being slain, needing an entire new face and identity, hiring the worlds best plastic surgeon to make him anew.

That is how serious the Nuggets makeover is going to be, and if you are a member of the Nuggets faithful, your new personal slogan will have to preach patience above all else.

Chauncey Billups was named as the successor to Chris Paul’s All Star spot today. Chris Paul is undergoing knee surgery for a torn meniscus, and will likely miss an extended period of time. Charles Barkley is probably walking around telling folks “Chris Kaman is rollign around in his grave.”

Not to discredit Kaman, but Billups is the integral leader of the 33-15 Denver Nuggets, good for a 1st place ranking in the Northwest Division. The Clippers are 21-27, 3rd in the Pacific Division, and nowhere near as good as Denver.

They got this one right. (Credit: picapp.com)

Billups was originally snubbed by both voters and the coaches alike, whom opted to select Brandon Roy, Deron Williams, and Chris Paul. Billups had this to say about it:

“Do I feel like I should’ve got in by the coach’s vote? Of course I do,” Billups said. “But I don’t know that I deserve it over anyone. It doesn’t take the luster off of it. At the end of the day, I’m an All-Star. I’m there.”

Since rejoining the Western Conference Billups it comes as no surprise that he could be overlooked. The Western Conference is saturated with the best point guards in the league, the exception being Derrick Rose. I suppose you can toss in Rajon Rondo as well.

Seriously Javs, Chris Kaman? Come on! (Credit: picapp.com)

At the end of the day, Billups is the most deserving to fill the shoes of Chris Paul in representing the Western Conference’s best. As good as Kaman is, you must wonder what sort of deflated numbers he would be averaging on a winning team.

Billups, on the other hand, makes teams into winners.

I lied about liking Allen Iverson. I really did.

Who didn’t love all those breathtaking dunks, and ridiculous finishes in the paint? All the fight he has inside him. The headband he would wrap around those incredulous hairdos. Oh yeah, and his rant about practice never seems to grow old.

I lied about liking AI. After what he said yesterday, I can never support him again.

Man, ya'll giving up on me? (Credit: picapp.com)

Iverson took the lowly road of Monday morning quarterback, and divulged information after the fact, while contradicting himself later in the same interview.

From ESPN: Iverson continued: “I’d never been on a team where a coach told me the guys gave up on me. You know what I mean? And I kept this under wraps the whole time … because I didn’t want to bad-mouth any of those guys.

Is it only now, that AI has secured a contract with the Memphis Grizzlies, that he decides to badmouth THOSE guys?

This picture makes a lot more sense now. (Credit: picapp.com)

Could he only keep it under wraps until he signed and secured a $3,099,729 salary?

Knowing he no longer has to be politically correct, why should he care if he keeps his mouth shut?

Some people would call it having tact.

AI could have taken the high road, but instead, he took jabs at a team that traded away Chauncey Billups in order to place him into their postseason plans, which he then managed to alienate himself.

AI has been on teams where players have given up on him.  They probably grew tired of never seeing the ball after it reached AI’s hands. Or may be they grew tired of watching him dribble out every 24 second clock. Maybe that was the situation in Denver, where his selfish play resulted in very little success.

The Nuggets only won 1 first round playoff game during the Iverson era, losing both 4-game first round playoff series in 2007 and 2008.

Sure the Nuggets went to the playoffs, and that can be considered successful.

But look at how far they got simply by dumping Iverson, and installing Billups: a loss in the Western Conference Final to the Lakers after going 10-6 during the postseason.

It is safe to say that his old Nuggets teammates got behind Billups.

I can honestly say that if players who have won an NBA title (See: Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace) will not stand behind you, then the real problem exists with the person they are not standing behind.