Melo expects to be dealt by trade deadline

By MARK HERRMANNmark.herrmann@newsday.comJanuary 18, 2011

GREENBURGH, N.Y. - Carmelo Anthony believes he will be dealt by the Feb. 24 NBA trading deadline and he is certain he will not handle his departure with a self-aggrandizing televised special the way one of his friends and advisers did.

"I would never go about it the way LeBron did it," Anthony told Sports Illustrated about his season-long trade rumor saga, on the heels of LeBron James' hyped and criticized "Decision" to leave the Cavaliers for the Heat. "If he could do it all over again, he wouldn't do it that way - he would do it a totally different way, I can guarantee you that."

Anthony told Sports Illustrated senior writer Ian Thomsen that he has been seeking advice from James and other NBA superstars, including Kobe Bryant. The Nuggets small forward was asked if he wants to sign a three-year, $65-million contract extension before a possible July NBA players lockout and he said, "That's my goal."

The Nets reportedly have been close for quite some time to a complex three-team deal that would land Anthony in Newark and keep him when the team moves to Brooklyn. The Knicks, generally considered Anthony's No. 1 choice, have resisted talk about dealing for him now.

In the interview, Anthony said James nudged him toward the Knicks at Anthony's lavish New York wedding this past summer, two days after James' ESPN special, "The Decision." Referring to new Knick Amar'e Stoudemire, James told Anthony, "If you want any chance against us in Miami, you'd better team up with Stoud in New York."

Knicks president Donnie Walsh said at practice Tuesday (a day after he had spoken about possibly dealing for first-round draft picks), "I'm not saying anything about Denver. Nothing."

One key person in the whole episode is about to end his absence, and possibly his silence. Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is scheduled to arrive in the United States and attend his team's game Wednesday night.