Kiszla: Carmelo Anthony divorce best for Nuggets

A serious problem the Nuggets will encounter in trading Carmelo Anthony has been revealed in how Melo is spending his summer vacation.

While Team USA headed to the world basketball championships in Turkey, Anthony has set his sights on China to film a movie.

The task of receiving anywhere near market value for Anthony in trade only figures to be more difficult with a growing perception the 6-foot-8 Denver forward is more interested in winning an Oscar than an NBA title.

As a league executive told me: Anthony used to bleed basketball. But if you opened him up now and looked inside, what could be found closest to the player's heart? A love of the game? Or the desire to be a Hollywood star?

As teams from New Jersey to Los Angeles respond to not-so- subtle hints from the Nuggets that the trade market for Anthony is open for bidding, it's time to ask where the cracks in the relationship between Denver and its star scorer began.

Signs point to last summer, when Anthony switched representation for his business interests to Creative Artists Agency, whose more famous clients have included Derek Jeter and Julia Roberts.

It should be noted that LaLa Vazquez, a former MTV personality and Anthony's wife, also joined CAA as part of the deal.

In recent months, as the Nuggets got bounced from the NBA playoffs during the first round, Anthony made a plea for needing more help on the team and franchise management grew increasingly frustrated by the forward's stubborn refusal to sign a $65 million contract extension, team officials have privately cursed Vazquez's influence.