June 28, 2012; Newark, NJ, USA; Harrison Barnes (North Carolina), right, is introduced as the number seven overall pick to the Golden State Warriors by NBA commissioner David Stern during the 2012 NBA Draft at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

It was a typical 2012 NBA Draft with a lot of surprises, some reaches and some picks that just have you scratching your head.

WINNERS

• PERRY JONES: Jones was an average college basketball player that got by with his sure talented at Baylor. That talent alone had some considering him a lottery pick. However, Jones dropped to Oklahoma City for a couple of reasons injuries and his attitude. He is one of the most talented player’s in the draft, but it won’t matter if he doesn’t improve his work ethic. Enter the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are coming off of an NBA Finals appearance and are the perfect place for an young, talented athlete to succeed – especially behind Kevin Durant. If Jones can’t succeed with the Thunder than he has not shot at making it in the NBA.
• GOLDEN STATE: The Warriors biggest need was at small forward. Before the draft they were trying to trade for Loul Deng, Andre Igoudala, Rudy Gay and Wilson Chandler. That was before Harrison Barnes dropped right into their laps. Barnes may not be the go-to scorer which many hoped the former Tar Heel would be, but he doesn’t have to be one in Golden State – which already has Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. He’s a perfect fit for G.S., working off of his teammates and not being forced to be the team’s star. The Warriors also got Draymond Green, who is one of the more versatile players in the draft.
• HOUSTON: The Rockets were the most active team going into the draft, adding the 18th pick and trading up for the 12th. There were talks that they wanted to move further up in the draft in order to get pieces to trade for Dwight Howard, but that didn’t happen. Instead Houston landed three very talented players in the middle of the first round. Jeremy Lamb in time should be a starting shooting guard in the NBA, Royce White was the most versatile player in the draft and Terrence Jones had to be the most underrated rated player in the draft. Jones was Kentucky’s top on-on-one defender in the post and the squad’s most versatile player. All three players was drafted by the right team.
• CHARLOTTE: The Bobcats shocked the world last week when they signed Mike Dunlap to be their head coach. They then traded Corey Maggette for sharpshooter Ben Gordon and a 1st round pick. And on Thursday they added two hard working small forwards, Michael Kidd Gilchrist and Jeff Taylor. Kidd Gilchrist has a competitive streak that is matched by few in the game and Taylor is one of the few players in the draft that is ready to play from Day 1.  Both also have potentials to be lockdown defenders in the NBA and both have the drive to win. Charlotte is building something and the only question is how good?
• KENTUCKY: The Wildcats followed up winning the National Title by having six players drafted on (Anthony Davis, Kidd Gilchrist, Jones, Doron Lamb, Marquis Teague and Darius Miller), including the top two picks in the draft (Davis and Kidd Gilchrist) and four in the first round (Davis, Kidd Gilchrist, Jones and Teague).

With Carmelo Anthony’s latest struggles on the court and his bouts with the flu and now with a knee inflammation, one has to wonder if it is time for the Denver Nuggets to seriously start exploring the idea of trading their superstar.

Melo has missed two of the previous six games, left another early due to sickness and was ejected in another. And when he played he has shot only .315 from the field and scored under 20 points in two of the four games he played in. By far his worst stretch of games since coming into the NBA.

Is it, as his representatives threatened before the season, him punishing the Nuggets  and showing his displeasure he is still here or is he really sick and injured? Only one person knows the answer and that is Anthony and Denver’s front office shouldn’t gamble the future of the franchise to figure out.

Right or wrong, Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri refuses to consider the idea of trading Anthony (at least for right now) and he has stated that the franchise has no plans of rebuilding. And recent talks makes it sound like Ujiri really believes that.

The team is in talks with offering a contract extension to coach George Karl, despite the recent concerns of his health and without knowing which direction the Nuggets are going to go. And Ujiri has also talked about resigning talented but erratic sixth man JR Smith.

However, if Anthony leaves (which most likely he will) – it might be of the teams interest to part ways with Smith and Karl, as well as other key figures on the team (Kenyon Martin and Chauncey Billups?). Karl isn’t a good coach for a rebuilding team and Smith’s attitude could be a cancer for a fragile team. And veterans like Martin and Billups each want to play for a competitive team instead of a rebuilding squad.

While some fans believe that when the time comes to trade Anthony the only option is to trade him to New York – because there is a guarantee he’d play there. New Jersey was also an option, but with the Nets early struggles and with recent reports it seems unlike that Anthony wants to play for New Jersey and the Nets aren’t willing to offer their rookie big man Derrick Favors without a guarantee that Anthony will sign the extension.

However, numerous teams have made it apparent that they would trade for Anthony without him signing an extension. Teams like Dallas, Houston, Charlotte and Philadelphia each would make a trade without a guarantee he would play past the end of the year.

The Bobcats and 76ers are among the worst teams in the NBA and also have one of the lowest attendance in the NBA and arguably the biggest thing that Anthony brings (outside of scoring) a winning attitude and attracts fans.

Also as the trade deadline nears also keep an eye on the Los Angeles Clippers and Chicago Bulls, each have draft picks and key assets that the Nuggets find attractive. They also could be ideal destinations for Anthony with two of more exciting young players, Blake Griffin with the Clippers and Derrick Rose with the Bulls.

While it is unlikely that the Clippers would add Eric Gordon and the Chicago Bulls would offer Joakim Noah, they both have the advantage of rights to potentially high draft picks (Clippers own a Timberwolves pick which is unprotected after next season and the Bulls own a Bobcats pick that is lottery-protected through 2012) and they also have assets that could be valuable in a three-team trade (Chris Kaman and Loul Deng) that might help the Nuggets land a second-tier player like Andre Igoudala or Gerald Wallace.

Where will Carmelo Anthony go?