Several Nets Players Remain In Favor Of Adding Carmelo Anthony

Multiple Nets players remain “fully in favor” of the team signing free agent forward Carmelo Anthony, sources tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv.

Reports linking Anthony to Brooklyn have become a near-weekly occurrence as of late. We initially heard at the end of August that the Nets continued to monitor the 10-time All-Star and that Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant were reportedly “pushing” the team to sign him. Meanwhile, a report last week suggested that Brooklyn’s interest in Anthony might be increasing with Joe Johnson off the market.

Even if Irving, Durant, and other Nets players are in favor of Anthony coming aboard, two key questions would have to be answered before it becomes a reality. The first is whether general manager Sean Marks is actually interested in signing the 35-year-old, since Marks will be the one ultimately making the decision, regardless of how many players support the idea.

The second is where Anthony would fit on the roster, which already features 15 players on guaranteed contracts. As Begley details and as we’ve noted before, Wilson Chandler‘s 25-game suspension will help create an opening on the regular season roster. But Chandler can’t be moved to the suspended list until he spends the first five games of the year on the active roster, and the Nets would have to activate or waive him once his suspension ends, essentially creating a 20-game window for the club to carry an extra player.

It’s not known whether Anthony would be interested in signing a non-guaranteed contract to essentially spend those 20 games auditioning for a more permanent spot on the Nets.

Training camps will get underway around the NBA in less than two weeks, and opening night is less than five weeks away, so if Anthony hopes to start the season on an NBA roster, he’ll need to secure a deal pretty soon.