The Carmelo watch marches on

So the New Jersey (soon-to-be Brooklyn) Nets continue making moves aimed at putting together a trade package for Carmelo Anthony.

'Melo, who honed his game in Baltimore but was born in New York, apparently prefers a trade to the Knicks.

You've got to think that the Nets, now owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, can find a way to make things more enticing for Anthony.

Prokhorov has already turned out to be an interesting guy to try to provoke, as Mark Cuban found out recently. (By the way, this link includes some of the most tortured journalism ever as the writer tries to work his way around foul language.)

While we all stay somewhat mildly interested in where Carmelo ends up -- isn't it sort of hard to think about any team other than Boston, Chicago or Miami being very significant in the East? -- these highlights show just how well 'Melo is playing these days.

Though I think the whole "East Coast bias" thing is a tad overblown -- because I think more decisions are made through convenience rather than some sort of desire for slanted coverage -- I do wonder what the hype will be like if/when Anthony plays in New York.