The Carmelo Anthony trade: where everyone won...before they all lost

Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty ImagesTen years ago today, while the NBA was returning for it’s recess for the All Star break, the Denver Nuggets made what some argue is the biggest trade in franchise history. After seven straight years of leading them to the playoffs, Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets reached an impasse. The Nuggets wanted their young star to re-up and sign the maximum extension, spend his prime with the team that drafted him third overall. Melo wanted different things. Oh he wanted that max extension alright, just not in Denver. He left the Nuggets with a choice: trade him to a team of his liking, or lose him for nothing in the offseason.

It was the end of an era that had in…