Carmelo's agent assured forward will not be traded

The agent for Carmelo Anthony says the Denver Nuggets have told him they will not trade the two-time All-Star forward this summer.

"He's not going to be moved," Calvin Andrews said in a telephone interview Sunday. "It's not happening. We've been given assurances from the owner on down."

Three sources with knowledge of the situation said Saturday afternoon that Andrews, and possibly Anthony, had planned to meet with the Nuggets on Monday to discuss Anthony's future. Anthony, who does not want to be traded, is bothered by his name being mentioned in rumors and upset because the Nuggets have not come out publicly and denounced a possible trade, the sources said.

That issue was going to be addressed at Monday's meeting and if Anthony's party wasn't satisfied with the Nuggets' answers, it was set to ask for a trade, the sources said.

But Andrews said Sunday he will not meet with Nuggets management. He will be in Denver this week but only to attend Anthony's court case for driving under the influence of alcohol. He has a court date Tuesday on the charge.

"I'm going there to be supportive of Carmelo," Andrews said. "If he's charged, there will be a penalty and I'll talk with the Nuggets about that. If the trade situation comes up, we'll talk about it, but there is no meeting planned to discuss trades."

Speculation about a deal involving Anthony began in May when reports surfaced that New Jersey had had exploratory talks with Denver about a trade for Anthony. While the likelihood of a trade to the Nets was never high, executives around the league said Nuggets coach George Karl was indeed ready to move Anthony. They added that Denver's management group is divided over Anthony's place within the team, saying that while Karl is willing to trade him, general manager Mark Warkentien and club advisor Bret Bearup are against a deal.

Denver was recently contacted by Detroit, and the two clubs had several conversations about swapping Anthony for Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince. The Nuggets decided against it and instead proposed a deal involving Allen Iverson or a package built around Marcus Camby. But the Pistons are interested only in Anthony.

Anthony, 24, averaged 25.7 points and a career-high 7.4 rebounds last season but was unable to get the Nuggets out of the first round of the playoffs for the fifth straight season. Anthony struggled badly in this year's playoffs, averaging 22.5 points on 36.4 percent shooting in a sweep by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Chris Broussard covers the NBA for ESPN The Magazine.

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