Carmelo prefers the Knicks or Bulls?
According to an ‘NBA source’ of Marc J. Spears, Carmelo Anthony wants to be traded to the Knicks or the Bulls.
The Knicks have limited assets to offer the Nuggets, which makes the Bulls a more appealing potential trade partner. The Bulls can offer a replacement small forward in Luol Deng, as well as two young forwards in James Johnson and Taj Gibson. New York officials would like to make a run at signing Anthony next summer if he were to opt to become a free agent.
The prevailing notion is that the Knicks don’t have much to offer in the way of trade, but I’d rather do a deal for Danilo Gallinari, Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry than trade for Luol Deng and his bloated contract, which is worth $51 million over the next four years. I swear some of these pundits don’t even look at the salaries when they throw around trade scenarios. Deng is a solid player, but at almost $13 million a season, I would take a pass.
So unless the Bulls are able to add a couple of first round draft picks, the Knicks’ (potential) offer of Gallinari and Randolph would be better for the Nuggets. Thus far, it appears that the Knicks have been unwilling to include Randolph in the deal, which is a little mind-boggling. This is Carmelo Freaking Anthony we’re talking about — the Knicks should be pulling out all the stops to acquire him now, especially since the Spears article also states that he wants to be traded before the season starts. If he lands elsewhere, the chances that he’ll sign with the Knicks next summer decrease dramatically.
Sure, he could get traded to the Clippers or the Rockets and become a free agent next summer, but will those teams really pony up the best offer without some assurance that Carmelo is going to re-sign? The Nuggets will get the best deal from a team that knows Anthony is a long-term acquisition.
One other item from the Spears piece — Carmelo has yet to meet face-to-face with Masai Ujiri since he was hired as Denver’s new GM. That’s not a good sign for those holding out hope that he’ll be with the Nuggets long term.
Wouldn’t the Bulls have to get Deng off the books before they could take on Anthony?
No, they’re talking about including him in the trade. The Bulls can’t sign him outright next summer — they have to acquire him via trade. The Knicks could conceivably wait until next summer and sign him free and clear.
Oh, well I guess what I’m wondering is, could the Bulls trade for Anthony without including Deng? Supposing Denver agrees that Deng’s contract is too bloated to be worth anything, could the Bulls offer other assets for Anthony? Because even if the Bulls had other assets Denver might be interested in, I don’t think Chicago has space for both Deng and Anthony on the team, financially.
“Space” is a nebulous thing in the NBA since it has a soft cap. Teams can spend whatever they want, really. They just can’t sign free agents for more than the mid-level ($6 M per season) when they are over the cap. If the Bulls put together a deal that appealed to the Nuggets and it didn’t include Deng, the Bulls could keep both players (Deng & Carmelo) if they were willing to pay the luxury tax (which is not something the Bulls have ever done).
Oh, okay. Thanks. I’m just reading a rumor now that Joakim Noah could be involved. I think that would be an epic fail for Chicago.
Chicago needs outside shooting/scoring, but they’d be giving up their defensive anchor in the middle, and it would expose Carlos Boozer for the mediocre-to-poor defender that he is.