In a recent interview with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson's “All The Smoke” podcast, Carmelo Anthony reveals exactly what happened between him and the Denver Nuggets that forced him to request for a trade to the New York Knicks.
Anthony explained in detail that he never really wanted to leave the Nuggets, but had no choice as Denver had other plans for their roster.
via All The Smoke
“Contrary to what anyone believes, I never wanted to leave Denver. I never told people that, but I never wanted to leave Denver. But they put my back against the wall.
“You go to the Western Conference Finals in ’09, what are you supposed to do? You’re supposed to build on that. You’re supposed to add people.
“They got rid of Dahntay Jones. On that team, Dahntay was a key piece on that team. They’re like, we ain’t re-signing Chauncey. We’re about to trade J.R., K-Mart’s contract was up and the lockout’s coming? So, I’m not about to rebuild after we went to the Western Conference Finals.
“I don’t want to go, but if y’all going to rebuild, it’s time for me to go somewhere else.”
The Nuggets were two wins away from making it to the NBA Finals when the Kobe Bryant-led Los Angeles Lakers eliminated them in a toughly contested six-game series.
The Nuggets had a solid roster built alongside Anthony as they had 2004 Finals MVP Chauncey Billups, J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin, Nene, Dahntay Jones, Chris Andersen, and Linas Kleiza. However, they ultimately decided not to run it back following the 2009 Western Conference Finals loss against the Lakers.
This decision disappointed the Nuggets superstar since he thinks he could have won a title with these pieces as he averaged 27.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.8 steals during his best playoff run.
In 2010, Masai Ujiri, then General Manager of the Nuggets, finally traded Carmelo Anthony and Billups to the Knicks for Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov, a 2014 first-round pick, and a 2016 pick swap.
Anthony will look to win his first championship ring after the 37-year old signed for the Lakers this offseason.
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