The New Jersey Nets' latest attempt to acquire Denver's Carmelo Anthony involves the Detroit Pistons.
Sources with knowledge of the talks confirmed the Nets and Nuggets have discussed a three-way trade proposal that would land Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups and Pistons guard Rip Hamilton alongside Anthony in New Jersey.
But a source close to the situation subsequently told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard that the three-way deal in its proposed form -- which would require the Pistons to take Nets center Johan Petro and surrender a first-round pick in addition to absorbing the expiring contract of Troy Murphy to the Pistons -- is not amenable to Detroit.
The source told Broussard the Pistons -- restricted in their attempts to make changes in recent months because of the team's pending sale -- would be interested if a trade scenario develops where they only had to surrender Hamilton and take back Murphy. Such a scenario, however, has not been discussed.