As you've all probably heard, Carmelo Anthony along with Chauncey Billups, Sheldon Williams, Renaldo Balkman(Welcome back, we missed you!), and Anthony Carter will be heading to the Big Apple, according to various sources. In return, a package(to say the least) of Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov, and the 2014 first round draft pick going back to Denver. Also involved is Corey Brewer, who will be coming to NY from Minnesota in exchange for Eddy Curry and Anthony Randolph.
Let me start off by saying that this was a great trade for Denver. They have 3 young, legit starters in Gallo, Chandler, and Felton who can supplement Nene, who they are looking to extend, as well as two first round draft picks from both Minnesota and NY. They were going to lose out on Melo in the FA market and now can easily rebuild and even compete in the West for playoff contention. Kudos to the Denver front office for staying put and asking for more and they got it in Felton and Mozgov. This trade could've been Gallo, Chandler, AR and Curry and it would've been an A+ trade for us. Mozgov if nothing else is an asset, so yeah despite the fact that he has been mildly inconsistent this year he could've been useful for making another trade in the future. As of now we have no assets aside from Fields and lets be honest, we cannot afford to give him up. Russian centers are hard to come by these days guys, especially ones who are 7'1 and can alter shots and box out well(although he never gets the actual rebound).
As for Felton there's a reason why Denver insisted upon swapping their PG with ours. Felton is younger, quicker, having a better year, and is much better suited for the uptempo, fast break ,Mike Dantoni 7 second or less ball. With Billups, whose already 34, we will see a slower tempo and a lot less execution. We will also see more playing time for Toney as the the backup PG and when he is in the game the ball movement is minimal to zero. You guys will see it for yourself when you're yelling at the TV screen asking why Chauncey Billups is pulling up for a 3 pointer on a 4 on 1 fastbreak.
Finally there is no need to throw in a 1st round draft pick if Mozgov is there. We have bent over for Denver and there is no other way to put it. I'm certainly going to miss Gallinari who was really coming into his own as a player. He showed an incredible ability to slash and get to the FT line. Chandler really stepped up this year as well with his shot blocking and his automatic mid range jump shot. Finally Felton was such a pleasant surprise averaging around 9 assists and being in serious consideration for an All star berth before his recent skid of inconsistent play.
What scares me the most is how Isiah Thomas may be behind this whole trade. Quite frankly it's a disgrace that his name is still around the way he has ruined our franchise. From the Marbury trade to raping women in Madison Square Garden(Wtf?!?), this guy is an embarrasment in every sense of the world. I don't want to hear about his great drafting ability because it's incredibly overrated (see Channing Frye over Bynum, Marcus Camby over Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant just to name a few). Walsh was playing this correctly by being patient, like the Denver front office, but Dolan couldn't handle it. He just had to listen to his bromantic partner Isiah and grossly overpay for a player who is obviously not on the elite level of Kobe, LeBron,Wade, or Durant. Of course this is all speculation but it will be quite sickening if Walsh resigns only to see Isiah snake back into the scene.
But this is a good day because Carmelo Anthony has opened up a whole new realm for New York Knicks basketball that has not been seen since Ewing was drafted in 86. Depending on the new CBA we are a legitimate option for Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams in 2012( Hey, it's like 2010 all over again!). Although we cannot trade for any of them due to our lack of assets( see Mozgov, 2014 draft pick), there is no doubt that the 1-1A punch, as STAT calls it, of Amare and Melo will attract players from across the league.
At the end of the day the NBA is a stars league. We all have heard the concept before. Get the superstars and find the supporting cast later. We saw it in Boston and we're seeing it in Miami. With STAT and Melo we have two top 10 players in the NBA, which is incredibly impressive. But let's look at this more closely. Where is the defense going to come from? Corey Brewer is a nice defender but its not enough. What about the rebounding? Will Turiaf be reliable to start at center or will we have to sign Earl Barron from the D-league soon. How many years does Billups have left in him? How many minutes can he play? Can Toney Douglas handle the PG responsibilities when Billups is sitting?Will STAT and Melo learn to play some defense? Considering they are veterans at this point in their career, the obvious answer is no. However I'm willing to be patient with this because Miami and Boston are running the east for the next 2 years at least, and we needed to make a move. There are no excuses for Melo and Stoudemire. These guys need to get it down and show that they are no 2nd tier stars but rather can hang with the best of them.
Let me start off by saying that this was a great trade for Denver. They have 3 young, legit starters in Gallo, Chandler, and Felton who can supplement Nene, who they are looking to extend, as well as two first round draft picks from both Minnesota and NY. They were going to lose out on Melo in the FA market and now can easily rebuild and even compete in the West for playoff contention. Kudos to the Denver front office for staying put and asking for more and they got it in Felton and Mozgov. This trade could've been Gallo, Chandler, AR and Curry and it would've been an A+ trade for us. Mozgov if nothing else is an asset, so yeah despite the fact that he has been mildly inconsistent this year he could've been useful for making another trade in the future. As of now we have no assets aside from Fields and lets be honest, we cannot afford to give him up. Russian centers are hard to come by these days guys, especially ones who are 7'1 and can alter shots and box out well(although he never gets the actual rebound).
As for Felton there's a reason why Denver insisted upon swapping their PG with ours. Felton is younger, quicker, having a better year, and is much better suited for the uptempo, fast break ,Mike Dantoni 7 second or less ball. With Billups, whose already 34, we will see a slower tempo and a lot less execution. We will also see more playing time for Toney as the the backup PG and when he is in the game the ball movement is minimal to zero. You guys will see it for yourself when you're yelling at the TV screen asking why Chauncey Billups is pulling up for a 3 pointer on a 4 on 1 fastbreak.
Finally there is no need to throw in a 1st round draft pick if Mozgov is there. We have bent over for Denver and there is no other way to put it. I'm certainly going to miss Gallinari who was really coming into his own as a player. He showed an incredible ability to slash and get to the FT line. Chandler really stepped up this year as well with his shot blocking and his automatic mid range jump shot. Finally Felton was such a pleasant surprise averaging around 9 assists and being in serious consideration for an All star berth before his recent skid of inconsistent play.
What scares me the most is how Isiah Thomas may be behind this whole trade. Quite frankly it's a disgrace that his name is still around the way he has ruined our franchise. From the Marbury trade to raping women in Madison Square Garden(Wtf?!?), this guy is an embarrasment in every sense of the world. I don't want to hear about his great drafting ability because it's incredibly overrated (see Channing Frye over Bynum, Marcus Camby over Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant just to name a few). Walsh was playing this correctly by being patient, like the Denver front office, but Dolan couldn't handle it. He just had to listen to his bromantic partner Isiah and grossly overpay for a player who is obviously not on the elite level of Kobe, LeBron,Wade, or Durant. Of course this is all speculation but it will be quite sickening if Walsh resigns only to see Isiah snake back into the scene.
But this is a good day because Carmelo Anthony has opened up a whole new realm for New York Knicks basketball that has not been seen since Ewing was drafted in 86. Depending on the new CBA we are a legitimate option for Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams in 2012( Hey, it's like 2010 all over again!). Although we cannot trade for any of them due to our lack of assets( see Mozgov, 2014 draft pick), there is no doubt that the 1-1A punch, as STAT calls it, of Amare and Melo will attract players from across the league.
At the end of the day the NBA is a stars league. We all have heard the concept before. Get the superstars and find the supporting cast later. We saw it in Boston and we're seeing it in Miami. With STAT and Melo we have two top 10 players in the NBA, which is incredibly impressive. But let's look at this more closely. Where is the defense going to come from? Corey Brewer is a nice defender but its not enough. What about the rebounding? Will Turiaf be reliable to start at center or will we have to sign Earl Barron from the D-league soon. How many years does Billups have left in him? How many minutes can he play? Can Toney Douglas handle the PG responsibilities when Billups is sitting?Will STAT and Melo learn to play some defense? Considering they are veterans at this point in their career, the obvious answer is no. However I'm willing to be patient with this because Miami and Boston are running the east for the next 2 years at least, and we needed to make a move. There are no excuses for Melo and Stoudemire. These guys need to get it down and show that they are no 2nd tier stars but rather can hang with the best of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment