Stop the Presses: Melo Will Be a Knick, Albert Will Stay Put

When it comes to the soap opera involving the futures of Carmelo Anthony and Albert Pujols, you know what's going to happen, because those players know and everybody else knows, too.

If you don't know, then you probably think one of two things: the earth is flat, and LeBron James really didn't plan for months to bolt from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat last summer before he insulted us on national television with "The Decision."

Here's what we should know: Carmelo will dribble with the New York Knicks, and Albert isn't going anywhere.

Good night, everybody.

And don't forget to tip the waitresses.

I know the Denver Nuggets reached a tentative agreement on Friday to send Carmelo to the New Jersey Nets. Even so, Carmelo would have to agree to sign a $65 million contract extension with the Nets. Plus, while he is slated to meet this weekend with Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov in Los Angeles during All-Star weekend, he also is expected to huddle with executives from the Knicks, his first choice.

The Knicks always have been Carmelo's first choice, and in the end, the Knicks will be his final choice -- you know, just as the St. Louis Cardinals will remain the team and the obsession of Albert.

This 24/7 fuss over Carmelo and Albert is media driven (with a mighty push from their handlers), and in the post-days of "The Decision," this is just the beginning. Come next year, for instance, the potential NBA free agents will include Dwight Howard, Deron Williams and Kevin Garnett.

There also will be restricted free agents such as Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love.

Well, if there is no NBA work stoppage.

Howard already has told folks to quit asking about his future, especially while he is trying to help the Orlando Magic prosper in the present. It won't matter, though. The non-stop speculation over whether he will go here or there someday will continue and intensify and resemble regular programming on cable channels.

The same applies to potential free agents of note in baseball, and I'm talking about beyond this offseason when Prince Fielder could make a ton after his contract expires with the Milwaukee Brewers. I'm talking more about a decade or so from now, when potential free agents such as Jason Heyward, Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper could be flirting with becoming the first $1 billion players.

Instead of having the breath of each of those baseball players analyzed by the public every hour until they actually sign with somebody or stay put, you'll have such attention happening every millisecond.

That is, if folks don't learn from Carmelo and Albert.

Let's start with Albert, who has spent 10 years as the new Stan Musial, Bob Gibson and Ozzie Smith with the Cardinals. Only The Arch is as prominent around St. Louis these days as Albert.

Need we go further?

If so, consider this: Cardinals manager Tony La Russa never mentions Pujols without grinning and suggesting his prolific first baseman (30 or more homers during each of his seasons in the majors) arrives at the ballpark after walking barefoot across the Mississippi River.

Just on Thursday, Pujols said during his first day this spring at the Cardinals' training camp in Jupiter, Fla., that he "loves" the Cardinals and that he wants to remain with the franchise forever.

He also said that talk of his wanting a 10-year deal worth something like $30 million per season was "way off."

He's staying.

So why haven't Pujols and the Cardinals reached an agreement by now, and how come he said that, if they didn't do so by noon on Thursday, he would shelve talks until the end of the season?

It's called negotiations, people.

It's also called brilliant on Pujols' part.

The Knicks always have been Carmelo's first choice, and in the end, the Knicks will be his final choice -- you know, just as the St. Louis Cardinals will remain the team and the obsession of Albert.
That deadline meant nothing.

If Cardinals officials call Pujols next week with an improved offer, he'll answer the phone. It's just that the negotiations will continue without a camera, a microphone and a notebook in Pujols' face. And his strategy already is working.

While half of the universe was present in Jupiter on Thursday to follow Pujols from the time he climbed out of his SUV through the rest of his afternoon and evening, a USA Today reporter was the only national media person around the Cardinals on Friday.

The masses finally realized there is no story involving Albert until he signs with the Cardinals or moves on -- and he's staying.

In contrast, Carmelo is going from the Denver Nuggets to the Knicks after the negotiating smoke clears around the Rocky Mountains. Up to now, the rumors have been everywhere. He'll join the Nets. No, he'll complement Kobe with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Houston Rockets also were mentioned, and there even was talk of Carmelo signing a long-term deal with the Nuggets.

Anyway, with the NBA trading deadline at the end of the month, the Nuggets must react soon. They would receive nothing if Carmelo leaves after this season as a free agent. So there isn't a doubt that the Nuggets are searching for the best deal.

There also isn't a doubt that, even though Carmelo technically hasn't a say in the matter regarding a trade, the Nuggets would honor his request if he wanted to go to, oh, say the Knicks.

He grew up in Baltimore, but he lived in Brooklyn as a child. He wife also is from Brooklyn (see a pattern here?). And, yes, the Nets will move from the Meadowlands in 2012 to a fancy place in Brooklyn, but if you wish to blossom on-and-off the court in the New York City area as an NBA player, you do so with the Knicks instead of the Nets.

Carmelo knows it.

Now you know it -- if you didn't know it before.