Carmelo's Homecoming

If you believe in destiny, fate, or any other acting supernatural force, then you must believe that current Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony will be calling Madison Square Garden home in the future. The only question is a matter of when it will happen? Currently, Anthony is being shopped by the Nuggets, and while the demands of the Nuggets shrink the market for Anthony, the New Jersey Nets appear to be the primary suitor. Armed with a blue-chip prospect (Derrick Favors), expiring contracts (Troy Murphy), and the ever-sought 1st round draft picks (3 in the upcoming draft), the Nets seemed destined to land the big fish. However, the main hurdle in this trade is that Melo’s desire to play for the Knicks has long been publicly declared, thus leading many to believe that he will bolt to the Big Apple in July. Would any sane GM be willing to part with that much for a rental?

Paging, Donnie Walsh. After years of aggressive wheeling and dealing for the summer of 2010, Walsh has uncharacteristically been quiet this season. This could be maybe because the Knicks are finally poised to play in the postseason for the first time in 6 years or Walsh’s lack of trade assets. Anyways, Walsh is taking the conservative approach in acquiring Melo, which is the “Oh, he’s going to get traded this season, but he will be playing for us for sure next season. Why bother relinquishing any pieces of our team?”

HELLO?!?!?!!? This is Carmelo Anthony, arguably the 2nd best scorer in the NBA right now. On top of that, he won a National Championship in his only year with Syracuse, New York’s best college basketball team. Okay, maybe this situation is a little different than the LeBron situation (Melo has New York roots as opposed to a native Clevelander like James), but still why risk losing him to a rising team across the Hudson River. The Nets pose the greatest threat to the rebirth of New York Knick dominance with a rising star (Brook Lopez), hip-hop mogul owner (Jay-Z), relocation to Brooklyn, and the assets to assemble a championship roster around Lopez and possibly Anthony

I wrote in a previous blog that Walsh’s #1 target since becoming the Knicks GM was Carmelo Anthony, not LeBron James. That probably is crazy talk, but now Melo is Walsh’s #1 target and now he has the opportunity to cash in that ticket, and if he succeeds, he can create the next Big 3 team by enticing Chris Paul to the Big Apple. Honestly, will Danillo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler ever be superstars in this league? No. Can they lure other superstars to play for your team? No. Will you miss these players if it meant Melo would play for you? No.


Math 101: Melo > Gallinari+Chandler

The value of a superstar transcends his own production on the court. History has shown us, that teams with 3 star players are perennial championship contenders, expedites the development of young players (see Rondo, Rajon), and are the main events of the league. Is this not enough motivation to pursue Carmelo?