It's been no secret lately that Joe Dumars is trying to get something done. Anything to right this ship. Well, maybe not anything. He had a great opportunity in the form of a three-way deal involving the New Jersey Nets and Denver Nuggets, but the Nets interest in Detroit's 2011 No. 1 pick was too much.
Via NorthJersey.com:
In the complicated scenario that’s being discussed, the Nets would send Derrick Favors, Devin Harris and at least two first-round picks to Denver and Troy Murphy’s expiring contract to the Pistons. In return, the Nets would get Anthony and Chauncey Billups from the Nuggets and likely Richard Hamilton from the Pistons, who are looking to shed salary. Hamilton has two years and $25 million remaining on his contract.
There are many more players involved to make the salaries match, but this is one of multiple things the Nets are discussing in an effort to land Anthony. They also are trying to trade with Denver straight up for the All-Star small forward.
To lay it all out for you (with the given names)...
Detroit receives: Troy Murphy and his $11.968M expiring contract
Denver receives: Derrick Favors, Devin Harris and at least two first-round picks
New Jersey receives: Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton (hallelujah!)
Sounds amazing. Let's do it.
Hold up, though. According to ESPN's trade machine, the Nets would have to cut over $11 million extra to make this work, hence "there are many more players involved to make the salaries match." That's obviously where things get extremely tricky and where the deal supposedly broke down.
Almost immediately after the above report surfaced, Vince Ellis scoffed at the idea that the Nets "were trying" to give Detroit their big man Johan Petro and his three-year, $3.2M deal for a first round pick. To me, "were trying" meant the Pistons said they weren't interested in the Petro for a first-rounder portion of the above deal or it was a deal breaker. Vincent Goodwill corroborates the latter:
#Pistons didn't want to take #Nets Petro and Troy Murphy just to get rid of Rip...and they wouldve had to give up this year's 1st rd pick
What say you, DBB? If this is still an option, should the Pistons do this trade and give up what will likely be a top 10 pick just to shed Rip's salary? Do you think the talks could still be ongoing? Getting rid of Rip's contract, seeing Chauncey reunite with Rip and what could've been with those two playing with 'Melo would be pretty cool, but I'd say giving up this year's first-rounder is a little too much.