As long as the Nuggets are talking crazy- asking for five Knicks rotation players plus a #1 pick for Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups, the biggest trade of the year won't go down.
HOWEVA, if the Nuggets get real, or Donnie Walsh makes a legitimate offer to them (Curry, Anthony Randolph/a #1 pick he can be moved for and Wilson Chandler is not enough), Melo could be headed for the big city and bright lights. The Apostrophe has come through on his proclamation that "The Knicks are back," to a degree. He brought them back to relevance, and over .500. Now that's not something I'm happy to be proud of, or proud that I'm happy with, but it is what it is. The Knicks haven't won a playoff series (OR GAME) since Vinsanity was happening in TORONTO and they haven't made it to the posteason since getting swept by the Jersey trash my sophomore year of college. To put that in perspective, I've had four different residencies since then and am going on my fifth; I've had four jobs and one internship; George W. Bush was in his FIRST TERM as president; Mark Sanchez's girl was literally in elementary school...get the point? It's been a while.
So on one hand, I don't want to break up the nice little thing we've got going. All I want this year, from the fourth youngest team in the NBA, is a playoff win. Not a series, just a game. But then again, I've heard from multiple news outlets, friends, experts and so forth that my team will get a star player in the offseason before, and watched it NOT happen (LeBron James, Cliff Lee). So Melo saying he wants to play in NY, and actually playing in NY are not as close as some would have you believe. The scariest detail in all of this is the new CBA. Not a soul knows what it will entail and rumors of Franchise Tags, severely lowered salary caps among other things do not make me feel good about the future.
What damage will the club do as a 5-7 seed if they give up a ton of guys to get Melo this year? He fills in on the fly, STAT has to readjust to a new PG, which hurts his production for two or three weeks, and an already short rotation gets shorter- exactly what STAT doesn't knee-d. They get Melo, I think Knicks can (not will, necessarily) definitely beat Chicago, Orlando and Atlanta in a series, but they'll still struggle against the Heat and Celtics.
When it comes down to it, Melo wants to be in NY, and not playing for the stepsister Nets in Jersey for another year or two. The Knicks want him in NY, but not at the expense of dismantling the team outside of STAT. Speaking of The Apostrophe, he went from NBA star to one of the biggest starts in sports after landing in NY and returning the Knicks to credibility. The same can happen with Melo. However, as bad press as he is getting now for whining his way out of Denver, imagine how magnified that will be if he and STAT are playing 42 minutes a game next year and the Knicks have no capspace in the new CBA to sign anyone else besides D-Leaguers. They'd be miserable in a situation like that and Melo needs to have the foresight to relax, quit pressuring the Knicks to get it done now and everyone will be happier in the long run.
This blog was all over the place, much like these discussions have been, and much like my thoughts on if we should get Melo now or wait, and what we should give up in that case. We'll know a lot more in a week's time.
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