Point of no return?

I've been catching up and plowing through the first four seasons of How I Met Your Mother and Carmelo Anthony's press conference reminded of the episode "Something Blue" where Marshall and Lily get married. Melo's presser didn't remind me of the TV wedding, but rather the side story in that episode ... Ted and Robin breaking up and keeping it to themselves for the benefit of their friends big day. From the looks of things, I'd say Melo and the Nuggets have broken up.

1.) Florida State beating Oklahoma on Sept. 11th (FSU lost 47-17).
2.) The parking lot at my friend's apartment being a guest lot (Car was towed).
3.) Kit-Kat being a fantastic choice as a Dairy Queen Blizzard (It was disgusting).
4.) Shonn Greene having a breakout season as the running back for the New York Jets (Not looking promising).

The above is a short list of things that I have been wrong about ... some fairly recently (the football game), some extending into the future (Greene), and some in my past (the towing and horrible ice cream). It's important to note these things because I could be wrong about Melo and the Nuggets. I could be reading into a three and a half minute video as something more then it is (I doubt any players really enjoy Media Day too much).

But with all the rumors and blah blah blah, it looked like Melo might not even make it past the weekend as a Denver Nugget, and now we are supposed to believe that everything is hunky-dory down at Pepsi Center? You might be selling it Melo, but I am not buying it.

Whether you've seen the show or not ... the television reference I made to How I Met Your Mother is important to me for a couple of reasons. The first, can you begin to imagine having to attend your best friends wedding while pretending to be the boyfriend/girlfriend of your recent ex? The second, it appears to me that is exactly what Melo is doing now. Sure, he showed up and he didn't make a big deal about however the hell close he was to being traded this weekend ... that was the professional thing to do. But how long can this charade last? I hope not all season.

If you haven't already watched Melo's press conference, please do so now! Here, I'll even give you the link again.

Did you watch it? I hope so, because I want to go over some key quotes and what I read through the lines ...

1.) Paraphrased question: Melo was asked how long he expects to be in a Denver Nuggets uniform.

Melo's answer after he takes a quick look at his uniform, "I'm here today. Whatever the future holds ... it holds."

What I think: It would be nice if players were allowed to say what was on their mind, but since they really can't do that (since everyone picks apart what they say ... me included) they give us canned phrased responses. But the kicker here is that Melo truly holds the cards. If he wants to be a Nugget, he can be a Nugget for a long time and would only need to say that to the media and he could likely get whatever contract he wants from Denver. I wish he could tell us what he wants, but we do not get the privilege of being a fly on the wall where that conversation takes place.

2.) Melo elaborates a bit on his future by saying he wont get into what he and Masai Ujiri discussed, but he does say the following ...

Melo, "It was a good conversation, actually it was a great conversation." And adds, "I'm here today, practice starts tomorrow. We go from there."

What I think: I think if they had a great conversation then perhaps they talked about something other than basketball. I'm sure talking about how they were in discussions over the weekend to send him out of town wasn't really the best of topics ... well maybe for Melo it was. All kidding aside, again I would have loved to have been in the room during their talk. I'd love to hear what Ujiri thinks the future holds with the Nuggets and how they want Melo to be a part of that and what will be done to keep him happy if he stays.

3.) Melo talks about his summer ...

Melo, "It's been a long summer for me. With all the speculation and rumors and the good things I've had going on. So, I'm just excited to get back on the court tomorrow."

What I think: Again, Melo could have come out at any point in time and put the speculation and rumors to bed by inking the extension with the Nuggets. But again, he needs to see that the team is committed to building a contender so he has to let the speculation and rumor mill buzz because he needs to put pressure on the Nuggets to do right by him and his career. Melo is a star and can carry a team to a certain extent, but the organization needs to show they are committed as well. Kenyon Martin's contract is sitting around with the end in sight, same with Chauncey Billups, J.R. Smith, and George Karl. If I were in Melo's shoes I'd be a bit worried about what kind of future the Nuggets are planning as well. Are the Kroenke Boys going to do all they can to bring Denver a championship?

4.) Melo is asked why he wants to be traded.

Melo, "I never said I wanted to be traded. I never said that. I never once said that."

Melo is then asked why all the trade rumors then.

Melo, "You gotta ask the front office that."

Melo is then asked if he's saying he doesn't want to be traded.

Melo, small smile and leans back in his chair in sort of a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't situation, "I never once said anything about trade talk."

What I think: Part of the business that we may never know about unless somebody writes a tell-all book. What came first ... the chicken or the egg? You want some cake ... and you want to eat it too?

Melo said mostly the right things in his press conference, but he didn't really say anything that put him on one side of the fence or the other either. There has to be some awkward feelings about this summer and maybe before that. The listening to trade offers from the past weekend seemed pretty awkward as well. How close were the Nuggets to making a deal? Did Melo know how close they were? Who held up the trade ... was it Melo not agreeing to an extension ... was it the Nuggets getting cold feet about the players in the deal ... was it the Nuggets hoping Melo showing up in Denver today would help change his mind?

We still don't have any answers. Melo said he's 100% committed to the Nuggets right now ... well he actually said, "I gotta be committed 100%."

I have a funny feeling that Melo and the Nuggets have broken up, but they just can't tell anybody yet. But I've been wrong before ...

ntimmons73@yahoo.com
Twitter: Nate_Timmons