After summer of trade rumors, Anthony still a Nugget

DENVER - After a summer filled with rampant rumors that had Carmelo Anthony heading to the Nets and then to the Knicks, the Nuggets' All-Star forward remains in a powder-blue uniform for the season opener.

He pretty much figured it would play out just like this.

"From day one, despite everything that was being said, I always believed I was going to be there for the first game," said Anthony, whose team hosts the Jazz tonight.

His teammates had a slightly different take. Once Anthony spurned a three-year, $65-million extension with the Nuggets in June, it looked as if he was on his way out the door. No way that he would be around for the opener, right?

"I definitely had doubts," point guard Chauncey Billups said. "But the further along it went, the further I took myself out of it. I'm not going to stress myself, worrying about what's going to happen. I don't know what's going to happen. Nobody knows what's going to happen.

"He's here right now and we look to rock and roll early in the season."

And so coach George Karl will have his star back on the court. But for how long still remains uncertain.

The Nuggets have until the February trade deadline to deal Anthony or risk losing him through free agency next summer, when he would be the headliner of the 2011 class.