It's Time for the Knicks to Trade Carmelo Anthony

Last year the Knicks had their best season in years. They won 54 games and won a playoff series for the first time in forever. The Knicks were on up and many people including myself had the Knicks finishing 5^th in the Eastern Conference, but the early season injury to Tyson Chandler changed everything. The team couldn’t win, was in a hole too steep to climb out of, and it’s time to rebuild. If the Knicks don’t do anything and just resign Carmelo to the max deal, the team will be worse next year. If Carmelo signs the max contract that’s the same contract Chris Paul signed, Melo would take up to 40% of the Knicks cap space. The Knicks cap will still be in disarray. Following the 2015 season, the Knicks are supposed to sign another player to a max deal. If Carmelo gets the max, the Knicks won’t have the cap to sign Kevin Love unless he’s going to take a pay cut. I don’t see that happening. So what is the solution for the Knicks? They have to trade Carmelo Anthony, and anything they have of value which isn’t a lot. The Knicks need first round picks desperately. They are without first rounders in the 2014 and 2016 draft. The Knicks won’t get a lot back if they trade Carmelo because he’s a free agent at years end. But if they can get a draft pick and a young player they should definitely pull the trigger on the trade. The Knicks shouldn’t re-sign Carmelo, but they can’t let him walk for nothing. Iman Shumpert has been rumored to be in trades already this year, but those rumors have gone away. The Knicks have to look into trading Tyson Chandler as well. A contending team would love to have Chandler’s defense and leadership on their team. Then in 2015 you have an empty cap. Only one player is under contract for that year (JR Smith) by then hopefully you have some young guys playing well and draft picks.  Every team that is successful is built through the draft. The Spurs Duncan, Parker, Ganobili and Leonard. The Pacers: Hibbert, George, Stephenson and Granger. You need to build from the draft to win especially with the new CBA. The way the Heat were built won’t happen again because of the CBA. Now this is the best plan for the Knicks, but it won’t happen. Why? Because the Knicks have a clueless owner in Dolan. If James Dolan would let his GM do his job the Knicks could be a title contender in 4 years.

Trade possibilities for Melo

Houston Rockets

Rockets get: Melo

Knicks get: Omer Asik, Jeremy Lin and Terrence Jones or first round pick

This trade makes sense for both sides. The Rockets get the third star that they need and become an instant title contender. The Knicks get two players whose contracts expire after next year. Asik and Lin and are good players and if the Knicks are smart they could trade these two next year and get even more assets. Terrence Jones has been very well this year; he’s averaging 11.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and has a PER of 18.85. Because of these numbers the Rockets might not want to trade him and they aren’t trading Chandler Parsons, so what young piece will the Knicks get from the Rockets? They might have to settle for a first round draft pick which isn’t the best thing since the Rockets are going to be good for a long time.

Chicago Bulls

Bulls get: Melo and Raymond Felton

Knicks get: Carlos Boozer, Kirk Hinrich, Mike James and Picks

                When the season ends the Bulls need to amnesty Boozer and get in the Carmelo Anthony Sweepstakes. But if you’re the Bulls, why wait until the offseason get ahead start? Get Melo now so he can adjust to Thibs coaching style and get use to the team. Also, if they trade for Melo they can offer him the most money when free agency comes around. The Knicks get two expiring contracts in Hinrich and James. Neither are making much money and wouldn’t be coming back to the Knicks in 2014 anyway. The real key for the Knicks in this trade would be the draft picks. The Bulls have a ton of picks in the next two draft and this is something the Knicks can take advantage of. The Knicks should get two first rounders this year since the Bulls have 3 picks and a second round pick for next year. All of a sudden the Knicks have some picks and future looks a lot brighter.

                Golden State Warriors

                Warriors get: Melo and Iman Shumpert

                Knicks get: David Lee and Harrison Barnes

Now this all depends if Golden State wants to trade David Lee. Lee is having a great season, 19, 10 and 19.95. But are the Warriors good enough to win a title with Lee? I don’t believe so, but if you swap him with Melo now you’re talking. This Warrior team would be a match-up nightmare for any team. For the Knicks you get David Lee back but he has three years left on his current contract. If I’m the Knicks I’d take him and try to trade him next year or in 2015 for more assets. Harrison Barnes, is the key for the Knicks in this trade. Barnes had a good rookie season, but exploded in the playoffs averaging 16.6 points in 12 postseason games. If the Knicks can get Barnes and have him play over 30 minutes they would have done well in this trade.

                Phoenix Suns

                Suns get: Melo

                Knicks get: Channing Frye, Emeka Okafor and lots of picks

Rumor has it that the Suns are willing to trade picks for a star player. The Suns have 6 picks in the next 2 years. Melo is a star and could make the Suns a real threat out west. For the Knicks they get Okafor’s huge expiring contract, Channing Frye contract expires after next year and he could be used as a trade assist. But the main thing here is the picks. The Knicks could get 2 picks in this year’s draft and the Lakers pick next year that the Suns have.

LA teams

                The Lakers don’t have anything for the Knicks to take in a trade so forget about that. The Clippers shouldn’t trade for Melo because they would probably have to trade Blake Griffin. They don’t need to trade a future hall of famer. Yes Griffin is on pace to be in the hall of fame look at the numbers. If Melo is traded it won’t be to LA.

How to Fix the Lakers

“The Lakers are the best team in the west.” “They’re going to take down the Heat in the finals.” Those were some of the things we heard before the start of last season. The Lakers had just acquired Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to pair up with Kobe and Pau Gasol. It seemed like the Lakers had fixed all their problems and were on their way to competing for an NBA title. As we all know, that didn’t happen.  Instead, the Lakers were a major disappointment. They fired Mike Brown four games into the season and hired Mike D’Antoni as their head coach. Steve Nash got hurt early on in the season and was never the player the Lakers had traded for.  Pau Gasol only played in 49 games due to injury, and Kobe torn his Achilles late in the season. The Lakers were old, slow, and beaten down. In the off season they lost Dwight Howard to the Houston Rockets. Dwight left the Lakers; NOBODY LEAVES THE LAKERS! How do you leave one of the greatest franchises in all of USA sports? Dwight gets criticized a lot for being immature and dumb. But maybe Dwight wasn’t dumb.  In fact, maybe Dwight Howard is a genius and saw the fall of the Lakers coming. 

                The current state of the Lakers isn’t much different from last year. Old, slow and beaten, but last year there was hope and this year all hope is gone. Steve Nash may not see the floor because of injuries; Kobe came back from the Achilles and is now out six weeks with another leg injury. Pau Gasol hates Mike D’Antoni and was reportedly being shopped around by the Lakers. But no worries, the future is bright!! The Lakers gave Kobe a new contract (2 years 48million) before he stepped on the floor this year. That contract was bad when he signed it and it looks even worst now. Let’s give a 35 year old coming off major surgery 48million, WHAT COULD GO WRONG?!?!?! Next year Kobe and Steve Nash will make 32 million dollars. That is crippling for the Lakers cap. How are the Lakers going to compete with that? Sure they could sign another max player but what damage is Carmelo, Kobe and Steve Nash going to do? The Lakers need a restart button right now.

                Their draft situation isn’t great either. They do have their first round draft pick for this year but they don’t have first round picks in 2015 or 2017. They do have their picks in the 2016 and 2018 draft but these picks cannot be traded. Under the new CBA a team cannot trade draft picks in back to back years. So how do you fix the Lakers? They have to build through the draft. They need to get a pick in next year’s draft, you need picks in drafts in order to rebuild through the draft. The only way the Lakers can get a pick in 2015 draft is by trading Pau Gasol. Can the Lakers get a first round back for Pau? Yes they can. They’ll have to take a bad contract in return, but the Lakers should be open to it. They’re going to be bad in 2014-2015 so take a bad contract if it means you get a first round pick in return. For example the Lakers should call the Suns to see if they will take Pau Gasol for Emeka Okafor and a first round pick. Okafor is on an expiring deal so he doesn’t matter but the Lakers would receive a draft pick they desperately need. The Suns would be willing to trade draft picks for great players since they have four first rounder picks this year. That’s the type of deal the Lakers need to pull at the deadline. This year is over for the Lakers.  Kobe shouldn’t step on the floor; let him heal up for 2014-2015. The Lakers need a rebuild if they want more championships.

Celtics Trade

There was another trade in the NBA today.  Not as big as the Bynum- Deng trade, but this trade could have a big impact on the Western Conference. The Grizzlies acquire, Courtney Lee who has 3 years left on his contract while making 5 million a year. The Celtics will receive Jared Bayless and Ryan Gomes from OKC. OKC will also receive two 2^nd round picks.

By making this trade the Grizzlies are showing a commitment to make the playoffs this year, but this will also put away the Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol trade rumors. Courtney Lee is shooting 44% from three this season which is something Memphis needs a lot of help with. This will allow Memphis to spread the floor more and give him for Z-Bo in the post. Memphis is 3.5 games out of the 8^th seed, but they’ve been with Marc Gasol for most of the season.  He should be returning soon, and if he does Memphis could make a run at the 8^th seed.

Danny Ainge is a genius! He gets out of the Courtney Lee contract and in return he gets an expiring Jared Bayless contract. Bayless is having one of his worst seasons ever.  He’s shooting 30% from three and 34% from the field. Now maybe a change of scenery will help Jared who has the ability to heat up. Ryan Gomes was also acquired by the Celtics but he’s already been waived.But make no mistake about it, this trade for the Celtics is all about the future.

 

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Bulls trade away Deng

The Andrew Bynum saga is finally over! Bynum was traded to the Chicago Bulls for 2 time all-star Luol Deng. The Bulls also received a first round pick in this year’s draft that’s top 12 protected from the Kings that was owned by the Cavs. They also have the right to swap picks in the first round with Cleveland in the 2015 draft and they also receive two 2^nd round picks.

                For the Cavs this is a win now move. They get Deng, who is a great perimeter defender and a good offensive player and adds a winning mentality to the young Cleveland team. The Cavs now are a playoff team in the east. Deng is 28 and is in the last year of his contract and is due for a big contract. The Cavs almost have to overpay him after this season after trading away 3 picks. The only downside to signing him long term is that Deng might be breaking down. He has played the most minutes in the NBA over the four seasons. He’s already missed 9 games this year. Dan Gilbert promised the fans of Cleveland that he wouldn’t be back at the draft lottery this year and it looks like he’ll be keeping that promise. For the long term I don’t like this move for Cleveland I really think Deng will breakdown soon.

                For the Bulls, this is the start of a mini rebuild. Andrew Bynum will be waived by the Bulls immediately so they don’t have to pay him the six million dollars left on his contract. I call it a mini rebuild because the Bulls still have Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose, if he ever stay healthy. The Bulls still have one more piece to get rid of in their mini rebuild, and that’s Carlos Boozer. He has a monster contract and will be difficult to trade, but the Bulls do have the option to amnesty him after the season. Trading Deng was the right way to go for Chicago. Signing Deng long term would have kept the Bulls in neutral. By trading him it takes the Bulls out of the playoff picture and into the lottery. The Bulls could have three picks this year. Their own, Charlotte’s which is top 10 protected and The Kings pick top 12 protected. The Bobcats are currently 7^th in the east and one of the early season surprises it looks like the Bulls will have that pick. The Kings with their new owner seem to be in a win now mood after trading for Rudy Gay and now have interest in Nuggets point guard, Andre Miller.  What does that all mean? It means the Bulls could have three first round picks in one of the most highly anticipated draft classes in recent history. Big picture for the Bulls, if they amnesty Boozer and let his contract go, can they convince Carmelo Anthony to take less money and play for the Bulls? If Melo joined the Bulls they would be title contenders as long as Derrick Rose is healthy.

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