Perhaps most interesting, the site reports that the NBA proposed adding a new “Carmelo Anthony Rule” that would “prevent teams — as the New York Knicks did in February with Anthony — from using a Bird exception to sign or extend a player acquired by trade unless they are acquired before July 1 of the final season of the player’s contract.”
Now this is an intriguing idea.
The benefits are obvious. The Denver Nuggets had their season hijacked last year as rumors swirled for months around Anthony’s refusal to sign an extension and his desire to get out of town. The headlines were distracting, the news coverage was insatiable, a trade became inevitable and the entire thing was a major, major distraction. Sure, it generated a lot of interest. But it wasn’t in the best interest of the Nuggets nor even in the best interests of the teams to whom he was rumored to be traded.
While the Melo situation was a mess last year, and it went a long way to screwing the Nuggets, I am not so sure I like this proposal. It will move up players demanding a trade earlier, or it will cost their soon to be former team the opportunity to get anything for that player. If Melo had decided to leave Denver like he did, and never said a word until July 2nd of last year, that means nobody else can extend him, and so he would have just walked at the end of the year.
