There's a growing sense of urgency over at Denver Stiffs regarding their superstar Carmelo Anthony's refusal to sign the contract extension given to him by Denver. It seems like the 2010 Free Agency Bonanza has set off a chain reaction fo paranoia among all fan bases of non-contending teams with a superstar.  Writes one Andrew Feinstein over at Denver Stiffs:

So while many Nuggets fans and members of the Denver media are confident that Melo will stay in Denver ... count me in for being skeptical.  And worried. Why the skepticism?  Because Melo is presumably being counseled by the same characters - Rose and Wesley - who "handled" LeBron's free agency which essentially ruined four franchises (the Cavs, Raptors, Nets and Knicks) while making the Heat a dominant NBA force of years to come.

For Denver fans, Melo's silence on the subject is deafening. In fact many people see his refusal to commit to the Nuggets as the same sort of commitment-deferring antics that a certain Lebron James upheld before his much-heralded exodus. Andrew proceeds to write:

Not only has Melo offered the standard "I have to do what's best for me and my family" lip service to the Denver media and Nuggets fans (which 90% of the time means an athlete or coach is leaving), but it's what he's not saying that should set off the alarm bells.  Anything short of firmly committing to sign that extension - worth almost $84 million as it would include Melo's 2011-12 salary of $18.5 million - and Melo's words are meaningless, just as LeBron and Chris Bosh's words were meaningless for the last two years.  Simply put, nothing Melo has said to date should give Nuggets fans any comfort whatsoever so don't try reading into them.

I personally believe it isn't shrewd for any player/team to reveal their cards early and more than likely what is happening is that Anthony wants to see what happens, both with the next CBA as well as what Denver accomplishes this year before making a long-term decision on where he wants to be for most likely the rest of his prime years. Nevertheless, it's fun to conjure up trade scenarios and that's a part of what blogging is all about. Therefore, the rest of this fanpost will assume that say Anthony, like Chris Paul, is disgruntled with playing the role of perennial first-round fodder and getting tired of either losing to or losing to someone who loses to the Lakers. Let's also assume upper management at Denver, realizing that if they don't act quick to get something for their unhappy superstar will be left out in the cold much like the Cleveland and Toronto, decide to shop him around quietly. Putting these delightful hypotheticals in-place, I want to here your thoughts on 1. Do the Lakers want a player like Carmelo and 2. What should the Lakers trade in order to get him?

*Edit: Keep in mind that Carmelo recently married LaLa who is an entertainer and accustomed to big city life. Also keep in mind that Carmelo Anthony recently bought a house in LA.