Carmelo Trade A Success For Knicks

I spent the majority of the day yesterday refreshing my browser every 30 seconds it seemed waiting to see if there was any more news on if or when Carmelo Anthony might be traded and to where he might go.  As a Knicks fan (and season ticket holder), I probably read every single article online in the past three months that mentioned anything about Carmelo and his desire to play for the Knicks, or the Nets desire to give up most of their assets or random bits of leaked rumors (Melo to the Lakers, Rockets, etc.).

It was time consuming, it was frustrating, it was nerve wracking and now it’s over.  And ironically, I missed it all happening.  I must have fallen asleep around 10pm last night b/c before my head hit the pillow, Melo was still a Nugget.  However, when I woke up to take the dogs out at 3am, I made the fortunate (or unfortunate) mistake of grabbing my cell and seeing the several text messages I had about the trade going through.  I say unfortunate, because I spent the next two hours reading every article I could about the trade.

I love the feedback that’s already being given from everyone out there, especially non-Knicks fans, who think they gave up way too much.  I couldn’t DISAGREE more, and will explain that in a few, but first I think it’s important to back up and look at how this all played out.  Yes, Carmelo wanted to go only to the Knicks, I think that’s a fair assessment.  I never believed for a second that the Nets were an option after he turned down their offer to sign an extension there at the beginning of a season, and only re-affirmed that in January (but kudos to the Nets for driving the price up).  The only other plausible option was for him to stay in Denver and sign a max contract extension and make oodles of money for several more years.  In turn, we got a classic chess match between the Knicks and the Nuggets.  The Knicks knew that Melo only wanted to come to New York, but Denver knew that chances were if they didn’t trade Melo anywhere, that he’d cave and sign with them and not leave up to $40 million on the table.  Face it, if you’re offered $40 million extra to play basketball in Denver over New York (regardless of sponsorships and whatnot, you’re more than likely going to stay in Denver.

And that’s why the Knicks “overpaid” as they did.  They could have gotten in the offseason and not given up several of their starters, but they also probably thought they’d get LeBron when they cleared cap space in advance for his free agency.  Denver held the ace in the hole which was the max extension that only they could offer if he wasn’t traded, but in the end they did the smart thing and opted to get something just in case he wouldn’t re-sign with them.

As for the trade itself, the Knicks did not overpay, they gave exactly what they should have and it does not make them weaker.  It may make Denver stronger, but Knicks did great here, and this is why…

Raymond Felton – yes, he was having an all-star caliber year until he hit a wall at the beginning of January.  But Felton’s early success was a product of Mike D’Antoni’s 7 seconds or less system.  I could probably play point guard for D’Antoni and be successful.  Felton clearly has slowed down and wasn’t going to be capable of doing this all season.  Plus he was a rental thru the end of next season, when the plan was to go after a real star point guard in either Deron Williams or Chris Paul.  On top of that, the Knicks got Chauncey Billups in return, who may be older and slower, but he makes up for that in court intelligence and big game experience.  So I’ll call it a wash.

Wilson Chandler – was having a great season as well and enjoyed being a #2 scorer for the Knicks, but the reality is, he was coming off the bench and is a free agent after this season and wasn’t going to be re-signed by the Knicks, so no loss there.

Timofey Mozgov – really people?  TinaFey Mozgov is a big factor here?  It’s actually annoying reading all the reports how he’s being labeled as a started given up by the Knicks or one of their top 6 players.  He had one good game all season against a small Pistons team who couldn’t guard or box him out.  Other than that, he’s overmatched and basically just screams Fredric Weis to me.  Ronny Turiaf is a better defensive player and if the reports are true that we’re signing Earl Barron, then Timofey will be an afterthought.

Danilo Gallinari – people are thinking this is the big chip the Knicks gave up, but we’ve been down the road with streaky shooter (thanks John Starks), plus he plays the same position as Carmelo.  The best part is the Knicks holding firm on keeping Landry Fields and including Gallinari, who had a fun run with the Knicks, but he didn’t really make us any better with his erratic play.

Anthony Randolph – head case, and saw practically no playing time.  Getting Corey Brewer in return might be an upgrade considering Brewer might be the best Knicks defensive player as of now.

Eddy Curry – expiring contract, eats his weight in Big Macs.

Sure we may have given up 3-4 starters in Felton/Gallinari/Mozgov/Chandler, but getting two starters in return, plus adding another superstar to go alongside Amar’e and thus in turn getting fans even more psyched about basketball at Madison Square Garden means this was a great trade.  They could have traded everyone on the roster except Amar’e and I would have thought it’d be a good trade.  They may not have the ability to compete with the Celtics/Heat/Magic/Bulls of the East just quite yet, but given the right offseason moves, I think they’ll slowly creep into that Top 4 discussion and then if they can land one of the two big point guards available in 2012 (which I understand to be a big if as of now considering the cap consideration), we may be looking at the first title for the Knicks in almost 30 years.  And for that I give the trade an A.