The Nuggets and representatives for Carmelo Anthony have scheduled a face-to-face negotiating session with hopes of agreeing to a three-year contract extension, Ken Berger of CBS Sports is reporting.

Without an extension, Anthony will hit the free agent market in 2011.

Anthony is free to negotiate an extension with Denver prior to the beginning of free agency on July 1.

The Nuggets are fully aware that Anthony will be a hot item next summer for teams that miss out on the likes of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade this summer.

They are hopeful that this will be the first step toward "making Melo a Nugget for a long time," one of the people familiar with the team's strategy said.