Get me someone who can help get me my ring.
That’s the message Carmelo Anthony hopes resonates with the New York Knicks. After falling to the Indiana Pacers in six games in the second round of the NBA playoffs, he wants help. And let’s be honest, he needs help.
What kind of help? According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, ‘Melo wants the Knicks to chase the kind that scores:
According to a source, Anthony has told a confidant he is concerned management will stand pat this offseason and said he believes the team needs to add a bona fide secondary scorer for the Knicks to take the next step and win a championship.
The source said Anthony, who turns 29 today, loves combo guard Iman Shumpert, 22, and projects him as a superstar, but not for two seasons. The source also said Anthony privately wishes the club will add a significant piece to the roster and not be status quo.
Do you know what’s truly surprising? Anything but this.
Of course Anthony wants the Knicks to improve. How could he not? They fell to a younger, less experienced Pacers team when they were supposed to contend for the Eastern Conference crown with the Miami Heat. No matter what ‘Melo says publicly, he’s open to change. All players who want their teams to get better are. And guess what? All (most?) players want their teams to improve. Standing pat is rarely a good thing, and anyone who wishes their team would get worse is, well, an idiot.
It also makes sense that ‘Melo would want the Knicks to chase a scorer. He’s never been big on defense so totaling points is all he knows. Offense is most of what he understands. Plus, playing next to J.R. Smith for two consecutive postseasons in one of the biggest markets there is will make you pine for the existence of a second consistent scorer and playmaker.
The problem? Well part of it is ‘Melo himself.
Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images
New York is capped out six ways toward next Sunday. That really isn’t ‘Melo’s fault. He deserves every penny of his $21.5 million next season after what he did for the Knicks this season. Does Amar’e Stoudemire deserve his $21.7 million? No. Tyson Chandler his $14.1 million. Eh.
Regardless, the Knicks don’t have the salary cap necessary to make a splash in free agency. They have $76.4 million on the books, and that’s not including what they may or may not offer Smith.
Anthony’s role comes into play when discussing trades. For the Knicks to complete a sign-and-trade, they would have to shed about $7 million in payroll to fall below the imposed “apron” by the accord’s conclusion. Teams over the salary cap cannot engage in a sign-and-trade if the deal keeps or puts them above that apron.
But to make such a complex trade, or any trades at all, the Knicks need assets. Which they don’t have. Because of ‘Melo.
Recognizing the Iman Shumpert is a future star shows ‘Melo has a keen sense of/eye for talent. Failing to admit that his forced escape to New York swindled the Knicks out of every asset they had—Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, draft picks, etc.—isn’t blissful ignorance, though.
The Knicks are not in a position to add another big name, Chris Paul included. Short of a fellow star taking an unprecedented pay cut or an opposing team getting greased in a trade that David Stern would want to veto if he had the power, New York doesn’t have the ability to get ‘Melo his second scorer, to get him a true superstar sidekick.
No matter how much he wants them to.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
