DENVER – Carmelo Anthony agreed to a maximum contract extension with the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.

About 12 hours after NBA free agency began, Anthony’s agents and Nuggets director of player personnel Mark Warkentien worked out a five-year deal worth approximately $80 million.

Anthony didn’t give up on the Nuggets after a season marked by injuries and infighting that culminated with Kenyon Martin’s suspension for insubordination in the playoffs.

Martin hasn’t punched his ticket out of town as he and coach George Karl have yet to talk about their rift.

None of that mattered to Anthony.

“I don’t think he’s given up on what Denver can do and he wants to be a part of that,” said Bill Duffy, president of BDA Sports Management, which represents Anthony.

Last season at 21, Anthony turned into the star everybody predicted he’d be when he was chosen third overall in the 2002 draft after leading Syracuse to the national championship his freshman year. He averaged 26.5 points and made the all-NBA third team.

Anthony, who has a year left on his rookie deal, can sign his extension after July 12. The extension will kick in for the 2007-08 season and run through 2012. The exact amount won’t be known until later this summer when the NBA’s number crunchers determine the salary cap for next season.

Duffy said Anthony never considered playing out his rookie deal and going elsewhere.

“It shows how much he loves Denver, the community, the organization and he wants the Nuggets to succeed,” Duffy said. “I don’t think he ever looked at anything other than getting the Nuggets going in the right direction.”

Duffy said Anthony’s extension is basically payback to owner Stan Kroenke and the Nuggets for sticking with him through some troubling times.

In his first couple of seasons, Anthony’s name kept showing up in the headlines for the wrong reasons: a bar fight in New York; a bag of marijuana found in his backpack at the airport; showing up on a bootleg DVD in Baltimore in which a man threatened to kill drug snitches.

Last year, he started making all his noise on the court, averaging a career high in points and leading the Nuggets to the top of the Northwest Division.

“They supported him a lot during his first three years, during his challenges and growing pains both on and off the court,” Duffy said. “They really have been there for him.”

And now Anthony will be there for the Nuggets for six more seasons.