Nets Owner Prokhorov Calls Off ‘Melo Deal Saying Taking Too Long

January 20, 2011 – THD Rumor Patrol

The blockbuster trade that would bring Carmelo Anthony to the New Jersey Nets is officially dead. But probably not how you would have guessed….

Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov told the team to end trade talks with the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, saying he was unhappy with how it played out in public, that it took too long, got too expensive and cost the team games.

The Russian billionaire also canceled a planned meeting with Anthony on Thursday and said there was no chance – that’s a big nyet – that the trade would be resurrected.

“There comes a time when the price is simply too expensive,” Prokhorov said in a news conference before the Nets’ game against Utah. “I have instructed our team to walk away from the deal.”

Previously, New Jersey had offered to ship six players and at least two first-round draft picks to Denver in a three-team deal that would have sent Anthony to the Nets along with former Pistons teammates Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton.

Prokhorov decided Tuesday to end talks with the Nuggets, and general manager Billy King said he informed them via a text message as Prokhorov was speaking on Wednesday.

“Really I am not happy with the way this deal has gone until now,” Prokhorov said. “It has taken too long … and I believe it has cost us several games.”

The Nets have lost six straight, including all four on a just-completed West Coast road trip that ended in Oakland on Monday.