Nets and Nuggets have restarted Carmelo Anthony negotiations

"The Nets are back in the chase for Carmelo Anthony.

Yahoo! Sports first reported today that the Denver Nuggets contacted the Nets more than a week ago to re-engage them in discussions to acquire the All-Star forward, and a person with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed the teams are indeed talking. That person requested anonymity because the talks between the teams are confidential.

The Nets were among the most aggressive suitors for Anthony, who refused to sign a three-year, $65 million contract extension with the Nuggets last summer and who can opt to become a free agent this summer. The Nets appeared to be close to completing a three-team deal with Denver and Detroit that would have brought Anthony to Newark in January, but after the deal stalled, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov declared on Jan. 19 that he was pulling the Nets out of the trade discussions.

Since that time, Denver has talked to other teams about dealing for Anthony, including Chicago and the Knicks. But the Nets, who can offer multiple first-round draft picks — something no other team can do — always seemed like the best match for the Nuggets. According to the Yahoo! report, the teams are believed to be working on a scaled-down deal, much smaller than the proposal with Detroit, which involved more than a dozen players.

In that deal, Anthony and teammate Chauncey Billups were to be coming to the Nets, along with Detroit's Richard Hamilton. Rookie Derrick Favors, point guard Devin Harris, two first-round picks, and at least three other Nets were to be going to Denver, with Troy Murphy and Johan Petro going to Detroit.

Harris always understood that, despite what Prokhorov said last month, things could change again quickly.

"Anything is possible — especially around the trade deadline, I think you sort of realize that,'' Harris said before the Nets played their final game before the break tonight, against the Boston Celtics at TD Banknorth Garden. "That possibility may come up that (the Nets) can't turn down. Who knows? It's just — everybody, I think, at the deadline, is trying to better their team, if possible. ... Only time will tell.

"I don't really think about it, but it's definitely possible," he said.

Just one week remains before the NBA's Feb. 24 trade deadline, at which time the Anthony saga will probably be over. That's the way Anthony was looking at it, too."