Carmelo Anthony hates Denver

After speaking with LeBron James on the whole contract extension thing, Melo is pondering a similar deal – one which gives him an out clause after three years.

Of course, ESPN isn’t leading off Sportscenter with teases like “Why Melo can, by the grace of God, leave Denver early!”, but what can ya do…

Then again, that’s because that’s not at all what these guys are thinking.

“Of course, I would want an option year,” Anthony told the newspaper during a break at his annual basketball camp in the Denver area. “That’s what we’re negotiating right now.” Anthony also told the paper that he, James and Miami’s Dwyane Wade have remained in contact with each other as all three prepare to sign lucrative extensions.

“We’re a group,” Anthony said of the trio, all taken in the top five of the 2003 draft. “No matter if we’re on different teams or whatever, we’re still together.”

Here’s the math, old friends – they’ve got their four year rookie deals, then four years on the extension, with an opt-out after three. Assuming they haven’t shattered their leg or something, they exrecise it, and now have the opportunity to sign another max deal. Are you with the math so far?

Okay, good. Now, at seven years of service, players are allowed to take up 30% of the salary cap, rather than 25%. This whole thing is a money grab – that’s it.

Yeah, we know – It’s much more fun to say LBJ is just angling to get out, but if that were the case, one must ignore everything he’s ever said, plus the fact the Cavaliers won 50 games and were one rebound away from the Eastern Conference Finals last year. Here’s where the new problem lies, though. Now you need to say that Melo and Wade are trying to get out of their cities, too. (Nobody will hypothesize such madness – don’t worry.)

To dive back to the math, let’s see how this type conclusion could be reached, if one were adamant. All you have to do is divide any number by two, then that number becomes half of what it was previously. You don’t even need long division to do that, either.

(Anyone else get the feeling David Stern isn’t gonna be too pleased with all this for some reason?)