It is no secret that the 2010 NBA free agency period is basically a who’s who of the top talent around the league. There is one superstar who isn’t a free agent now but instead will be able to test the free agency waters in 2011; that man is Carmelo Anthony. Anthony can opt of his contract with the Denver Nuggets next season.

A theory that the Nuggets might trade Carmelo this offseason rather than waiting for him to become a free agent in 2011 has been picking up a lot of steam lately. Denver has offered Carmelo a three year $65 million contract extension, but he has yet to sign that offer. So it is easy to see why the idea of the Nuggets trading Carmelo now rather than possibly lose him to free agency later is not that farfetched. Recently though a high ranking Nuggets official made it clear that “Melo” will be playing in Denver next season.

"There is no way we are trading Carmelo Anthony," the official said. "We're 100 percent certain of that."

The New York Knicks in particular are a team where there could be a common interest between Carmelo and a franchise. Amare Stoudemire who is close to signing a max contract with the Knicks is good friends with Anthony and sources have said that in private Carmelo has expressed interest in playing in New York. In fact, the Knicks called Denver last week to feel out there interest about a possible trade for Carmelo.

I can’t blame Denver for holding onto their star player, while I don’t think the Nuggets are a championship contender even with Anthony without him I don’t think they are a playoff team. There is no doubt that the Knicks are going to make a strong push for Carmelo next offseason, because I don’t see him signing the Nugget’s contract extension. The Nuggets will have to cross that bridge when they get to it though. Denver cannot get sucked into talk of friendships and destinations thinking that Carmelo would immediately bolt for the Big Apple or another city.

Obviously, this NBA superstar’s future is unclear but right now it is certain that he will be playing in the Mile High city for one more season.