The only thing more annoying than the rampant snow that we’ve been experiencing in the Northeast this winter are the constant Carmelo Anthony trade rumors to the Northeast this season, be it New York or New Jersey. As the snow appears to finally be tapering off, so have the ‘Melo talks. Last night, Carmelo Anthony was finally traded to the Knicks as part of a 3-team deal.
In addition to Carmelo, the Knicks are receiving Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman returns to MSG (a serviceable 5, like a Nene, would’ve been nice too). Denver receives Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, a 1st round pick, two 2nd round picks and $3M of cold hard cash. The Timberwolves were the third team involved and they received Eddy Curry and his expiring contract, and the underachieving Anthony Randolph. From Minnesota, the Knicks receive Corey Brewer.
When I initially heard the news late last night, I first had a tough time believing that it was actually true because of the frequency of all of the previous erroneous reports. Once I came to the realization that it was true, I immediately wanted to see what exactly the Knicks gave up to acquire him. We knew that either Chandler, Fields or Gallinari would have to go but I was hoping it would be just one of them rather than two. Initially, of those three, the guy that I wanted to keep out of the mix was Wilson Chandler. So when I saw that both Gallinari and Chandler, as well as 3 draft picks were gone, it didn’t sit well with me from a Knicks standpoint. I thought that was a whole lot to give up, even for Carmelo.
But when I woke up this morning, I had a new perspective. Take a look at what the Knicks gave up: Chandler, Felton, Gallinari, Mozgov and three draft picks (I’m not as concerned about the money because it isn’t coming out of my pocket). In my opinion, Chandler is the best player of those four and although I truly believe that he will develop into a special player, he can be replaced. And if he can be replaced, so can the other guys. Even though Chauncey is eight years older than Felton, he’s the better player of the two. I don’t think Gallinari will develop into anything special and the only reason he was that coveted was because his father played with Knicks coach, Mike D’Antoni in Italy. That’s the only reason he was taken 6thoverall by the Knicks back in 2008. There’s no way he should’ve been taken so high.
Then that takes me to Timofey Mozgov. I was nothing short of disgusted when I found out that the Knicks’ unwillingness to include Mozgov in this deal is what held this up over the past week or so. Mozgov barely played in January because D’Antoni didn’t think he was good enough, so why would he stand in the way of landing ‘Melo? That doesn’t make any sense to me. Mozgov’s best attributes are that he’s 7’1” and he’s 24 years old. Notice I didn’t mention any actual basketball skills. His height and youth are desirable, but those alone don’t account for any points, rebounds or blocked shots.
So basically, Carmelo replaces Chandler (advantage: Knicks), Chauncey replaces Felton (advantage: Knicks as Chauncey is one of the best clutch shooters of his era and a Finals MVP), and Mozgov is irrelevant. So all the Knicks lost was Gallinari, but they got Corey Brewer to fill that void. Gallinari is a better scorer but Brewer is the better defender. Sure, they lost draft picks, but the Knicks aren’t in building-for-the-future mode. They’re trying to win now so the draft picks aren’t as crippling when you take that into consideration. Everyone that the Knicks gave up can be replaced, but you cannot replace a guy like Carmelo Anthony, in his prime, and the offensive tools that he possesses. Let’s face it, the Knicks of 24 hours ago weren’t going to win anything because they only had one star player in Amar’e. They would be a perennial 6th seed in the East, but not much more. Now, they have two star players and traditionally, teams that win have at least two.
Carmelo becoming a Knick was inevitable ever since he announced that he wanted to go to New York. That caused the Knicks to, understandably, drag their feet. Unfortunately, however, because the Knicks weren’t willing to throw in role players (first Chandler, then Mozgov), ‘Melo felt slighted and there was growing concern throughout the New York organization that they may not be able to land him in free agency as easily as most thought. I’d be willing to bet that Knicks’ owner, James Dolan, stepped in and told GM, Donnie Walsh, to get it done at any cost. We don’t know if ‘Melo would be willing to potentially lose out on millions under the new collective bargaining agreement by waiting for free agency. Also, it was clear that he wanted no parts of New Jersey, and the Nets had a more attractive offer including four first round picks.
‘Melo was excused from Nuggets practice yesterday so that he could do a taping of “Conan.” Now, I’ve never been on an NBA roster but I can’t imagine guys are usually excused from practice so that they can appear on a talk show. I think the deal was already done at that point but wasn’t made public yet, which is why he was excused.
So what does this all mean for the Knicks? Their new starting lineup will be Chauncey Billups, Landry Fields, Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Ronny Turiaf. That’s actually a better starting lineup than Raymond Felton, Landry Fields, Wilson Chanler, Danilo Gallinari and Amar’e Stoudemire. But the Knicks are thin now. We’ll see what they can muster up as far as a bench is concerned. Right now, they are 6th in the East and will definitely make the playoffs but aren’t a contender in the East. Yet.
In the summer of 2012, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams will become free agents. Because he’s 34 years old, Chauncey, although one of my favorite PGs in the game because he’s so savvy, isn’t a part of the long term plans for the team. That means that the Knicks will have their sights set on either Paul or Williams, with Billups being the stopgap until then (that’s one hell of a stopgap). If I had my pick, I’d take Williams over Paul because while they have comparable court vision, Williams is the better scorer of the two. While Dwight would be nice as well, that’s not likely. So, it may have been a back door way of getting there, but the Knicks are two-thirds of the way to forming their own Big 3 with Stoudemire, Anthony and Paul/Williams guaranteed to be a Knick before long. When that does happen, which isn’t that far off, the Knicks can be considered as one of the elite teams in the East.
When Boston formed their Big 3, they won a championship in their first year and the rest of their roster wasn’t that impressive. Miami formed their own Big 3 when they didn’t even have enough guys to actually make up a roster, but they’ve figured it out so far and should win a championship at some point. And I expect the Knicks to be elite before long because the necessary role players are now going to want to come to New York because the future is very bright.
The knock on both Carmelo and Amar’e is that they aren’t great defenders. True, but that’s because they haven’t played in a system predicated on defense. D’Antoni’s system is shoot first, ask questions last. While Amar’e and ‘Melo hold the ball for a while before eventually scoring, we’ll all be surprised as to how this thing actually works on the offensive side of the floor. But D’Antoni needs to incorporate some defense before he’s replaced.
After forfeiting two seasons in pursuit of LeBron and not getting him, the Knicks only had Amar’e to show for it. Now they have Carmelo as well. You can say that this won’t work, but if nothing else, it has made the Knicks relevant and the talk of the NBA and sports world. This trade even had ESPN’s Mike and Mike talking about the NBA practically all morning, which is a rarity since they never talk about basketball. New York has star power now, which is something they haven’t had since Ewing. Marbury, Houston and Sprewell were very good players, but not stars of this magnitude.
I don’t know about you, but I’m glad this is now over. I want to see basketball being played now. I’m tired of the talking. I’m sure ‘Melo is happy too, and I didn’t think it was possible, but he probably had a more talked about departure from his former team than LeBron.
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook
