>As the Denver Nuggets near a NBA Finals berth and Carmelo Anthony retires, this a reminder that they wouldn’t be here today without him. Nuggets drafted Jamal Murray with the pick they received from the Knicks in the Carmelo trade – a pick swap into the No. 7 slot in 2016.
[Tweet](https://twitter.com/MikeVorkunov/status/1660654822985531392)
>After 19 NBA seasons, Carmelo Anthony announces he has retired from basketball. A 10-time All-Star, voted on the 75 Greatest Anniversary team and one of the game’s greatest scorers ever.
[Tweet](https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1660639664934354946)
by urfaselol
36 Comments
GIVE MELO HIS RING
This is a reach even in butterfly effect terms.
They can thank Masai Ujiri for that actually
Why did Melo draft the Joker..I don’t think Melo has much to do with it.
We should give Carmelo Anthony’s parents each a ring for giving birth to him
Serious question, would you rather Jamal Murray or a prime Melo on this team right now?
Agreed. He lifted this franchise from the absolute bottom of the early 2000s to at least some relevancy. We didn’t have the greatest success with him unfortunately, but I do believe the Nuggets need to mend that bridge (even though he wanted to leave) and at least acknowledge all that he did for us.
Edit: spelling
Shout-out to Carmelo’s dad for producing the jizz that one day would result in the Nuggets making the finals
So Knicks pick resulted in Murray ha..and for most of decade ppl said it was awful return for Melo
Carmelo wasn’t a failure, he was a path to getting Jamal
Anthony Davis and Carmelo Anthony handled their departure from their franchises the right way and fans still hate them for it.
Melo paved the way to demand a trade to a preferred destination while you are still under contract and sabotage your team in the process.
Same with the OG VC, Davis, Durant, Harden.. and soon Zion,Ja and Edwards.
Thanks melo!
Melo could have said nothing and left in FA like LeBron and Bosh. But because he respected the organization enough, we eventually got Jamal Murray for him.
Not to mention a few fun years of Gallinari being a fan favorite
Maybe we should all just forget this trade ever happened. I like that idea.
Shout out to the founders of the Knicks organization for founding the team that Carmelo would want to go to in exchange for what would eventually become Jamal Murray
It goes even deeper.
The Nuggets wouldn’t be here without Tayshaun Prince. It was Tayshaun’s out-of-nowhere emergence in the postseason 20 years ago that convinced Joe Dumars the Pistons might have their small forward of the future, leading Detroit to shoot their shot on an Eastern European with limitless potential and the frostiest of tips in the 2003 Draft. That allowed Denver to scoop up Carmelo at No. 3.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that if the Nuggets win it all this year, Tayshaun, Joe D, and Darko all deserve their second ring of the new millennium.
Imagine if Denver has won the lottery in 2003 and landed LeBron
All humans share a common set of ancestors from when we split off from other hominid species, therefore, keeping in mind that first human pair ultimately made the jizz that fertilized the egg that became the first human and who then eventually produced Melo, we’re *all* kind of responsible for Jamal Murray being a Nugget.
This was where it was all meant to lead, fellas.
Melo/K-Mart/Camby/Miller/AI/Chauncey/Birdman/Nene Nuggs was a fun era
The Melo Nuggets and these nuggets just feel like different teams or something. I think because I associate Melo with those beautiful baby blue jerseys.
As a Celts (and nuggets) fan I have often wondered over the years where the Celts would be if they had drafted Murray and not Brown. Well I am certainly back to those thoughts right now!
Man kids today just don’t appreciate or understand prime Melo. The dude was so incredible to watch. He’s not a Lebron, he didn’t bench press a team to a chip, but (as a Blazers fan) sometimes I think you gotta just appreciate watching an all time great player play great and forget about the ringchasing.
Wouldn’t be there with him either
I remember this draft so vividly. It really felt like a strong class, and like the Nuggets had a great shot at getting a star with that 7th pick.
Based on mock drafts/intel leading up to the draft, it was apparent that Denver would either get Murray, or Jaylen Brown (essentially whichever guard the Celtics passed on at pick 3).
I was actually convinced Jaylen was the better option, and although I was still happy we took Jamal at the time, I thought Jaylen had a clearer path to being a star.
Obviously they have both turned out great, arguably the top 2 players from that class now (although Ingram and Sabonis are right there). I want to personally thank the Suns for taking Dragan Bender, and the Wolves for taking Dunn.
They also wouldn’t be here with him.
Melo brought us out of years of awfulness from mid 90’s to early 2000’s and made the Nuggets a perennial playoff contenders and a title contender. He also got us a haul from the Knicks that made the rebuild relatively quick as most of the haul were worked into what we have today. I am thankful to him for his contributions to the franchise, but I wish he didn’t throw so much hate at us so much on the way out.
Had me in the first half
Appreciate melos single minded selfishness still helping out the nuggets lol
Now this is full circle. Great inside
Good for the nuggets. Knicks woulda messed up that pick anyways
So you’re telling me I need to go back in time and talk the Nuggets into trading him to Brooklyn instead?
Knicks would not have taken Murray
Unfortunately he’ll never have his jersey retired because Jokic wears his old number and his jersey will def get retired.
That’s a stretch
At the time I remember being upset Melo wanted to be traded only as he probably would have been the greatest Nugget ever. I hope we as a city eventually applaud him for all he did as a Nugget.