Did the Knicks give up too much to get Carmelo?
ESPN’s John Hollinger answers this question with an emphatic “yes.” In his trade grades column, he gave the Knicks a D+ in this deal.
The worst part, of course, is that this deal proves that no matter how many advantages New York gains from its magnetic appeal to potential free agents, owner James Dolan will screw them up. Leaning on the genius of Isiah Thomas — because it worked out so well for the first time — he fell hook, line and sinker for every bluff thrown his way by the Nuggets and Melo’s people. (Yes, Melo’s people participated — Anthony needed to make sure he got a lucrative contract extension under the current salary rules before being traded.)
New York still gets its Melo-Stoudemire nucleus, but now lacks the supporting pieces to do anything important with that core. And by extending Melo now, they agree to lock him up at such an expensive price that, in concert with Stoudemire’s deal, it likely precludes making a run at Chris Paul, Deron Williams or Dwight Howard in 2012.
The Knicks were bid up by the Nets, who never really had a chance at acquiring Carmelo in the first place. It would have been worth all of this to acquire a Top 5 player like LeBron James or Dwight Howard, but Carmelo is in the second or third tier of NBA stars and by acquiring and extending him now, they’re going to be paying a premium for his services for the next three or four years. His contract could make things especially tough if there’s a hard(er) cap.
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Nigga pleeze . . . No matter what the Knicks do, ANYTHING is an upgrade to the past 15 years. STFU and be a fan . . .
I’m generally with the crowd who says we paid too much. I’d rather have chanced it with the pieces we had to add another All-Star caliber player for a cheaper price later on down the road.
At the same time, I certainly wouldn’t put Carmelo in the “third tier” of stars. I know “advanced stats” don’t like him and I’m all about those in general but from watching him play, I think of him as a unique scoring talent, not just in his ability but in his particular tool set. For what it’s worth, the only 3 other players who scored as many points up to the age of 26 were LeBron, Kobe, and Michael.
I guess it just comes down to semantics, really. I think Joe Johnson is a third tier talent. I do think this deal is crap. Why so eager? Why tear down what all we’ve accomplished so far? But at the same time, it was hard watching the Knicks when we absolutely needed a bucket and the only person who was remotely close to a lock for one was Amar’e Stoudemire.