Sounds like Carmelo Anthony could be a bit happier about one particular cost-cutting move the Nuggets made this off-season.

From an interview with HoopsHype's Marc Narducci:

How tough was it losing Marcus Camby to the Los Angeles Clippers, especially since Denver only received the option to swap second round picks in 2010 and a $10 million trade exception?

CA: It was tough. The hardest part about that was knowing that we gave up a two-time defensive player of the year and didn’t receive anything back. That was the toughest thing to deal with. People get traded every day, that is the business but to know we only got a future second round pick was tough. You can’t cry over spoiled milk. It’s done and over with and we have to move on.

Rightfully so.  It's hard to imagine Melo isn't taking a bit of a jab at his team's front office here.

Read More..
 

Anthony also promises in the interview that the team will come closer together in its efforts to prove that it can win sans Camby this year.  But there's plenty of reason for concern.  The fast-paced Nuggets managed to hang in the league's top ten in defensive efficiency thanks largerly to Camby's presence on the defensive end.  His presence as a weak-side shot blocker and help defender made a big difference in keeping opponents from running completely wild in the lane and enabled an otherwise fairly poor defensive team to keep its points allowed just low enough to permit it to out-gun its opponents.

Not having Camby this year will only put more of an onus on Melo and Allen Iverson to drive this offense to new heights, because it seems likely enough that the defense will experience a makred decline.