Tag: Carmelo Anthony

What If: The Knicks Never Traded For Carmelo Anthony?

In February of 2011, the Knicks traded Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, the Knicks 2014 first-round draft pick, the Warriors’ 2012 second-round pick, the Warriors’ 2013 second-round pick and $3 million in cash for Carmelo Anthony. The trade was unpopular from the beginning, if only because Carmelo wanted to be a Knick and was due to hit unrestricted free agency after the season. So, let’s go with the theory here that Melo comes to NY on a max contract in free agency and the Knicks still have all of the pieces they traded.

First, let’s focus on the draft picks that they traded. The Knicks 2014 first-rounder was traded by Denver to Philly. The pick? Dario Saric, who was a ROY contender and is a very solid NBA player. If the Knicks wound up with a better record via the Melo signing, and therefore a later pick, players like Gary Harris, Nikola Jokic, Zach LaVine, and Clint Capela were still available after that pick.

Next up are the Warriors 2012 and 2013 second round picks. The Warriors second rounder was used on Draymond Green (though Khris Middleton was also still on the board). Imagine that. The 2015 Knicks would have had a roster of Melo, Green/Middleton, and Saric/Harris/Capela (Jokic was taken too late for the first round pick to be used on realistically, as he was still available in the next round. Assuming Amare Stoudemire’s knees still buckled, there’s a situation in which the success of this rebuilt roster would convince a top-tier power forward to commit via free agency to fill out this starting roster. That team has very serious Finals potential.

Now, let’s include the players that they traded FOR Carmelo. Wilson Chandler is still an incredibly useful player in today’s NBA, Ray Felton has morphed into a 3 point weapon and top-tier backup point guard, and Danilo Gallinari has been a very solid player (whilst healthy). The Knicks don’t have the cap space to match Mozgov’s contract and let him go. This is an incredibly solid roster top-to-bottom, and could have been a real challenger in the Eastern Conference. Do they ever win a title in the LeBron-run East? Probably not, but I wouldn’t count them out as the number one challengers to the Heat’s greatness. Adding in some players that they already had or added in the between years (Jason Kidd specifically) and they are a very real problem.

The only major loss is that they probably never are in a position to draft Kristaps Porzingis, but that was an incredibly weak draft so that roster spot is virtually void.

Overall, this trade altered NBA history, especially when it comes to the Knicks, and ultimately might have cost them a shot at a real run at the NBA Finals.

If you have any suggestions for “What If?” holler at me on Twitter @oh_my_gos.

Houston: We Have a…Melo

What a week this has been in the Melo saga. I guess, being the resident Thunder fan and spending my last year getting a PhD in Washed Melo, I’ll run through the ordeal whilst trying not to be too–wait for it–Melodramatic.

 

After getting bounced by Utah in the first round of the playoffs, the OKC brass did a rather immaculate job projecting that Melo would no longer be a part of their 2018-2019 plans. They seemed to exclude him from every narrative in their post-season press conferences in what seemed like a rather earnest and poorly veiled attempt at getting him to opt out of his $27.9 million player option. This did not work as, days before free agency began, Carmelo decided to opt in to his deal, complicating the future of the franchise. With Paul George and Jerami Grant re-signing in Oklahoma City within the first 7 hours of free agency, the first thing that many people noticed was how OKC was due to pay the biggest luxury tax bill in history. Something had to change, and there was only one realistic option: Melo.

The front office sat down with him and explained that he would not be coming back to run year 2 with PG and Russell Westbrook. To give Melo credit–of which he certainly deserves it–he did not complain or moan or make a public spectacle of everything. He accepted his fate, and instead of forcing OKC to waive him or stretch him (both incredibly pricy options), he said that he would accept a trade and a buyout, allowing him to choose his next option in UFA. For this, and for how the saga turned out, Oklahoma City owes Melo a debt of gratitude. The question then became, where?

One-by-one, trade destinations fell by the wayside. Brooklyn, Sacramento, Chicago all viable options before making trades or signings of their own that complicated matters for the Thunder. But one team seemed to come out of nowhere in the closing days before the deal was made: Atlanta. They hadn’t been able to find a trade partner themselves for Dennis Schroder, and were desperate to get off his contract and the headache of his current legal issues. It was the perfect match.

Quickly addressing OKC’s haul in this deal before moving onto the Melo portion. The big concern with waiving Melo was going to be how to replace his scoring. Efficient or not (he wasn’t), he was still a big part of their offense. In comes Schroder and his 19 PPG, who will take that 6th man spot that Carmelo was so vehemently against. He will be used in the Reggie Jackson role from years ago, albeit a better scorer and distributer. I’m not totally sure how he helps an already shaky outside shooting team, and I don’t think he can play next to Westbrook (especially because of that), but he’s a big bench presence that will allow Westbrook to actually rest and not worry about the offense going in the tank. My guess is now Billy Donovan will stack PG/RW minutes, with PG playing alongside Schroder for balance and RW getting to run a bench unit at times without PG. The starting lineup figures to be Westbrook/Roberson/George/Patterson/Adams, with Patterson in over Grant (a superior player, but turning him into a corner ball three shooter was totally ineffective and they need space in the lane to make this team click).

Another underrated aspect of this trade is that, along with their unused MLE, OKC created a $10.3 million trade exception, which will have to be used during the season if GM Sam Presti can find a shooter who is slightly over their price range. Also something not very understated has been that this move essentially saves OKC’s owners $100 million in luxury tax payments. For those of you bad at accounting, that is actually a lot of money.

Now, on to Melo. Sources have said that he will be going to Houston in the coming days once the trade and subsequent buyout are complete.

Melo will go to Houston and complete the ball-holding holy triumvirate of James Harden-Chris Paul- Carmelo Anthony. Honestly, I don’t get this move one bit for Houston. On one hand, yes it makes Chris Paul happy and *IN THEORY* gives them another shooter and a man who loves iso-ball, which is essentially all that Houston does outside of the Clint Capela P&R. But on the court I just don’t see it. Melo’s bread and butter is a midrange isolation jump shot. It’s the move that’s forged his Hall-of-Fame career. But no team over the last two years has shot less midrange jumpers than the Morey-D’Antoni era Rockets. Their love of analytics has molded Houston to shoot almost exclusively from deep or within the restricted area, which, in turn has made Houston one of the more efficient offenses in the league and the consensus “biggest threat” to Golden State (whatever that’s really worth). Melo was also worse than Trevor Ariza on both ends of the floor, and certainly can’t replicate anything defensive that Luc Mbah a Moute brought to the Rockets.

Melo posted a 105.6 defensive rating and a 106 offensive rating, while Trevor Ariza had a better defensive rating (104.3) and offensive rating (112.1). Ariza also held a significantly better true shooting percentage (56.7% to 50.3%) and effective field goal percentage (54.2% to 47.6%).

Anyways, the point of this was not to trash Carmelo, who again, is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but to question his fit in this Houston scheme after a season in which he posted career lows in efficiency across the board. And let’s do away with the notion that he didn’t try to change. He did. There was a clear effort to move the ball with an extra pass when it was available and he did try to become a spot up shooter. It just didn’t work out because the truth of it is, he’s just not very good anymore. I applaud his efforts, but at the end of the day, a leopard doesn’t change his spots. He did give at least some effort defensively, but he’s never been much of a defender anyways, so a Melo sapped of all his remaining athleticism often became flat-footed and slow to recover. There became times where the jab stepping would single-handedly kill possessions and it became a chore to watch him and this team on offense. I wish him luck in Houston and hope he succeeds, because it’s tough to see him as a punchline. But, the first time he is asked to come off the bench or hustle back on defense or to stand around while James Harden or Chris Paul dribble the ball through the hardwood for 20 seconds, everybody is going to be looking at him. And I hope that he handles it the right way.

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P.S. We’ll always have this, which is probably a top 3 Melo moment ever, next to scoring 62 at The Garden and the time he laid down for an entire possession (against OKC ironically, there’s a metaphor in there somewhere).

Divorce Granted: Carmelo Anthony Okays Deal To Oklahoma City Thunder

I still remember the day Carmelo Anthony was dealt to the Knicks back on February 22nd, 2011. My expectations were sky-high as I imagined us lifting up the Larry O’Brien Trophy one day. That dream turned to a nightmare over the course of the last six years, but Carmelo wasn’t the one at fault, even though he took the brunt of the blame from the harsh NYC media.

Over the last few months, I wrote here about how Anthony deserved better from New York, as well as attacked ESPN’s laughable #64 player ranking for this season last week. As a Knicks fan, it’s a sad day and really the end of an era that I have to consider a failure with only one playoff series victory in six years. It was just time for this divorce to happen, the Knicks needed to move on and embrace their youth movement while Melo earned the right at 33-years-old to play for a championship contender and not a rebuilding unit. This is Kristaps Porzingis’ team and hopefully we learned our lesson to actually put talent around our superstars, which hasn’t been the case in the past with Melo, Ewing, King etc.

Friday night, news broke out that Carmelo Anthony extended his list of trade destinations to three, adding the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder to the mix with the Houston Rockets. Even though both Knicks GM Scott Perry and President Steve Mills reiterated at a press briefing they expected Melo to be a Knick come next week’s start of training camp we all saw it as media posturing. After promising Anthony he would be dealt in July, they owed it to him to make a last ditch effort to deal him before the 2017 season got rolling.

Shortly after 1 P.M. ESPN Insider Adrian Wojnarowski dropped one of his signature “Woj Bombs,” saying a deal for Carmelo was “close with the Thunder,” right in the midst of a politics war against the NBA. The Knicks will receive Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a Bulls 2nd Round pick in exchange for Anthony. This isn’t great return value by any stretch for the Knicks, but I believe they had to make a deal like this before the season to rid the team of any distractions, officially launching us into a new era of basketball. So as a fan of the team, I’m just going to embrace the rebuild and hope these kids can gel and develop, while giving us a fun season. Even though it probably won’t result in a playoff appearance.

As a life-long fan of Carmelo Anthony, I’m ecstatic to see him wind up in a winning situation. At the age of 33, he finally gets to play with two superstar teammates in front of a raucous home-court advantage that will embrace him. I think I finally found my second favorite team to pull for come playoff time. The 10-time All-Star has much to prove to the haters, and he will have an opportunity to do that deep in the heart of a playoff run. The Thunder boast a talented lineup that may vault them to the Western Conference Finals, which includes Russ-Roberson-PG-Melo-Adams. Of course the NBA does it again, as the Knicks will travel to OKC on their opening night October 19th, bravo guys.

So here we are on September 23rd, 2017 as Knicks fans like myself say farewell to the best player to suit up in the blue and orange in the 21st century. Thank you for everything Carmelo, you embraced gotham for what it was and didn’t turn your back on any challenge thrown at you. That right there is to be respected. I wish this chapter could’ve had a different ending, but good luck in OKC, we’ll all be cheering for you. Your story is not finished just yet. See you on December 16th (My B-day) at MSG for a reunion.

Thank You Melo!

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The Disrespect of Carmelo Anthony Has Gone Too Far

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Months ago I thought the only Carmelo Anthony article I’d be writing this summer would be his farewell to New York as he was dealt to either Houston or Cleveland, but when you’re a life-long Knicks fan you know nothing ever goes according to plan. So here we are, just a over a month out from the 2018 season tipping off and I’m coming to the aid of the Knicks star, as ESPN released their unreliable NBA player rankings with Melo at the 64th spot, sandwiched between the erratic Marcus Smart and behind Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball.

I feel disgusted I actually had to type that last sentence. Yes, ESPN has Carmelo Anthony in the same breathe as a career 9 point per game scorer and someone who has yet to play in an NBA contest. I’m starting to think BSPN is just trolling here so the media actually writes about their irrelevant rankings, as I’m doing now so mission accomplished guys. If they actually did a reputable job a lot less people would care and there wouldn’t be as much outrage from NBA players and fan conversation. Screen Shot 2017-09-13 at 7.09.56 PM.png Carmelo Anthony may not be the player he was six years ago when he first suited up in MSG, but he is damn sure better than the 64th best in the NBA. The 33-year-old should be somewhere in the 30’s where ESPN had him ranked before last season. Anthony is coming off a solid 2016 effort in which he averaged 22 points, with nearly 6 boards and 3 assists a night. He also posted better than career averages from three point range as well as at the line and even tested out positively for all the analytics folks at home. Anthony should be commended for thriving these last few lean years in NYC, not painted as the villain left for blame of this mess.

 

I’m going to rattle off some wings on this list rated ahead of Carmelo. There’s no way with a straight face someone could objectively tell me Danilo Gallinari, Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder, ROBERT COVINGTON, Khris Middleton, Danny Green, Lamarcus Aldridge and Harrison Barnes are better players than Carmelo Anthony. One of only four players ever to average at least 20 points per game every season of his career. This is really an embarrassment on whoever cultivated this list, they must have a personal vendetta against Melo, as if the dude isn’t going through enough. It’s thought processes like this that make me pray one day Melo gets out of the black hole that is the cancerous Knicks organization and actually plays on a contender in May/June before it’s too late.

If Melo is cool with suiting up once again with the Knicks come next month, I’m actually all for it at this point if the right deal isn’t out there and he won’t expand his trade list beyond the Rockets. Let’s say he plays well once again I could see his value driving up around the trade deadline in February, as a team looks to add a final piece to make a championship run. At the end of the day I won’t tolerate the disrespect of a player of Carmelo’s pedigree, but this storybook career deserves a different ending.

Carmelo Anthony Trade Talks: Jabari Parker’s Name Has Been Thrown Into The Ring

Sporting News

Ian Begley of ESPN – ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported last month that Houston was looking for a third team to make a trade work. The Milwaukee Bucks emerged as a potential third team at one point, per league sources, but there was no traction toward a deal. Milwaukee has been trying to shed salary so, in all likelihood, the idea of taking back the remaining money on Ryan Anderson’s contract (three years, $60 million) in a trade wasn’t enticing.

One name that came up in those (very) preliminary talks? Bucks forward Jabari Parker, per league sources.

It’s unclear which side — the Knicks or Bucks — brought up Parker’s name. What is clear is that Parker would have been part of an outgoing package that included a larger Bucks contract, such as John Henson’s or Greg Monroe’s. If that deal had come to fruition, the Knicks would have received the type of return they’d long hoped for in an Anthony trade: a young player on a below-market contract in Parker.

It seems like everyone in the league is getting traded besides the one man whose name has been in trade talks the longest, Carmelo Anthony. Will a deal be done? Is a deal even possible? Will Melo be able to wear a hoodie during games? All of these questions and more have been running through Knicks fans heads the last couple of months.

The latest wrinkle that has been thrown around is Jabari Parker. The man with nothing left in his knees. This kid has just had some bad luck over the years. I’m a Duke guy so I actually saw Parker play at the Garden a few years ago. The man has talent. He’s 6’8 but moves like a 2 guard with the quick first step of a PG. I like his game a lot and I’m not even being a homer about it. Guys between 6’6-6’10 who can play and guard multiple positions is why the Cavs and Warriors continue to win the championships. Plus, he’s only 22.

According to Begley, the rumored trade would be as follows:

I don’t think it would be that simple. If the Bucks are taking on a huge Ryan Anderson contract, they’ll probably have to move a big contract somewhere else not named the Knicks (Thanks, Noah). If I’m breaking this down as an honest Knicks fan, this is actually a pretty solid deal. I thought we were going to trade Melo for a bag of nickels and expired coupons so to get a 22 year old in return is best case scenario. A low risk, high reward guy because of the favorable contract and potential.

Now, this is all preliminary talks. It looks like the Knicks are nowhere close with moving Melo. With training camps opening up soon, I expect talks to intensify and if a deal doesn’t happen by the start of the season, his name will be brought up again at the trade deadline. My stance on Melo has not changed even with Phil out of the picture. He’s a very talented player who is still a Top 5 scorer in the league. I thank him for his time in New York and for taking on the challenge of trying to bring the Knicks back to relevancy. But, he’s not in the future plans of the organization and frankly, he shouldn’t want to be. Go get buckets on a contender and play late into the playoffs. You deserve to give it a go for a chance at a ring.

That being said, if Melo can wear a hoodie during games, KEEP HIM!

New York Knicks Off-Season Preview: Free Agency Edition

nicks-kcks-nykm-972-73-2016-17-fired-phil-jackson-world-champions-24144150The Phil Jackson experiment is over in New York and fans can finally breathe a sigh of relief and turn the page to the next era of Knicks basketball, which is hopefully centered around future All-Star Kristaps Porzingis. As we sit less than four hours before the free agency frenzy begins, reality is starting to set in that General Manager Steve Mills will be navigating the team through free agency and that is a scary thought.

Only the Knicks could go into the free agency period without a team president, oh wait the Cavaliers are right here with us but they’re in a little better predicament than the NYK. I’m hoping Mills treads lightly until reinforcements come in a few weeks and doesn’t dig us into an even deeper hole than this organization is already in. Here’s head coach Jeff Hornacek’s chance to get heavily involved with the structure of the team in 2017.

James Dolan probably has the highest approval rating of his disastrous tenure as owner from meddling to save the franchise from Phil “Triangle Offense” Jackson. If he wants to keep that momentum going, he should definitely look at ex-Cavs GM David Griffin who was recently let go by another crazy owner. I don’t know what to think of the John Calipari rumors, which he shut down, but in my opinion it wouldn’t be smart to give up multiple assets in hopes to get an established general manager like the Spurs R.C. Buford or Toronto’s team president Masai Ujiri, whom James Dolan is infatuated with.

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If Dolan wants to promote from within I’m cool with that as well. I believe Allan Houston has all the makings to be a successful executive after being in the organization’s front-office since the Donnie Walsh era in 2008. He’s paid his dues and is well respected within MSG. I’m just happy Isiah Thomas isn’t coming back to haunt us, stay over there with the Liberty, Zeke.

The Carmelo Anthony Saga Must Come To An End:

The Melo drama continues into the summer of 2017, but I believe it will finally come to an end. When the new executive is hired, this should be his first order of business to launch the Knicks into the next era of basketball. Teams will definitely come calling once they miss out on major wing targets like Paul George and Gordon Hayward this weekend. I still think it comes down to Houston, Cleveland and Washington as a dark horse. Remember, Carmelo Anthony has all the cards with his no-trade clause so he can pretty much handpick where he ends up.

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Possible Free Agent Targets

Derrick Rose – Just kidding, he’ll be someone else’s problem next year. 

Ben McLemore – Still only 24-years-old, but had trouble developing in a crowded backcourt of a dysfunctional Kings organization. Worth a roll of the dice. Career 35% shooter from downtown. Averaged 12 points per game in extended playing time in 2015.

*** Knicks reportedly reach out to McLemore’s camp (July 1)***

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Shabazz Muhammad – Another 24-year-old that can fill it up in a short amount of time. The once highly touted UCLA product averaged 10 points and 3 rebounds in 19 minutes for the T’Wolves last season.

James Young – A guy I loved coming out of Kentucky in 2014 who became a lost first round pick spending much of his time on the bench for the Boston Celtics. Only 21-years-old and I still think he can reach his ceiling of a Lou Williams/Swaggy P potential type of player with proper nurturing and playing time.

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Dion Waiters – There aren’t many people as polarizing in the league as the Philly product. Waiters shut up his haters with a solid showing in Miami this past season, evolving as a leader and putting up solid numbers. Who could forget his game-winner against the Warriors, as he was a key cog in their mid-season turnaround. Let’s bring Waiters Island to NYC.

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Veteran Point Guard To Mentor Frank Ntilikina

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Darren Collison – a perfect fit for a mentorship role for Ntilikina. Collison should come at a fairly cheap price and be productive in his minutes. Still only 29, Darren is a guy the Knicks should target to help ease Ntilikina into the NBA lifestyle. Also, averaged 13 points and nearly 5 dimes a game in Sacramento last season.

Patty Mills – The Aussie has developed into a solid player for the Spurs over the past few seasons, who has seen extended minutes with the decline of Tony Parker. Cory Joseph drew a 4 year $29 million deal in free agency from Toronto last off-season, so something similar for Mills should be in line. Sign me up for the 40% shooter from deep.

*** Resigns with San Antonio Spurs – 4 years $50 million according to ESPN***

If the Knicks are smart it will be a relatively quiet off-season in NYC with the exception of shipping out Carmelo Anthony, but it’s for the best. I’m open to taking on a bad contract from someone if they attach an asset with it (young player/first round pick) or shipping out someone like Courtney Lee. We need to focus on building this from the ground up. It’s going to be a tough couple years here, but at least we have our draft picks going forward and hopefully Dolan chooses the right person to lead this franchise out of the abyss. Enjoy the madness people.

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Carmelo Anthony Deserved Better From New York

On February 21, 2011, Carmelo Anthony was traded to the New York Knicks in a move he called, “a dream come true.” Just six years later, that dream quickly became a nightmare in the concrete jungle for the 32-year-old. Watching the video above makes me so angry, thinking about how great things could’ve been. In 2011, there was so much hope as a Knicks fan. Carmelo Anthony embraced New York. Yes, a star in his prime forced his way to be a savior of a franchise starving for one.

Fast forward to 2017 and it’s all gone to shit. I couldn’t even forecast a worse ending for Carmelo in NYC. Last week, Phil Jackson says Melo would be “better off somewhere else,” and now reports leak that Anthony and Lala are ending their 7 year marriage, which in my opinion has been a long time coming. Just a couple weeks ago I know for a fact that they were living in the same house together, and now it just leaked out that they will be separating. I look back to the 2013 “Honey Nut Cheerios” incident with Kevin Garnett, as rumors flew that the power couple would be breaking up, and admittedly it looked that way as they were rarely in the same place together. Now they just need to do what’s best for the two of them and their 10-year-old son Kiyan.

I’m not saying Carmelo is a perfect dude, but everyone that knows him says he is a good guy. The couple times I’ve come into contact with Melo he’s been nothing short of a class act, as he always takes time out for the fans and gives back to the community, like this past Christmas, gifting a car to a family in need. Simply put, Carmelo Anthony deserved better from New York and it’s a shame the Knicks could never surround him with sufficient talent. Through all the BS he’s had to deal with from Phil and the media this year, who is just kicking a guy when he’s down, Melo always faced it professionally. You have to respect that out of a player, who has gone through so much. I’m also not ready to buy into that story of him impregnating another woman. Let’s wait on the paternity tests before we go making those kind of bold accusations.

It’s tough to sum up Carmelo’s stay in NYC. He always wore the brunt of the blame, even when it wasn’t his fault. We had arguably the top scoring wing in the league and that somehow only lead to one playoff series win. His best teammates range from Tyson Chandler, a shell of Amar’e Stoudemire, and J.R. Smith. One of Anthony’s best moments in a Knicks uniform had to be his 2012 Easter Sunday performance, which was an unreal victory against the Bulls at MSG. Where Carmelo was on fire hitting the game-tying and game winning three pointers on his way to 43 points. Who could forget vintage Melo giving setting the Knick single game scoring record giving the Bobcats 62 points in early 2014. On the flip side I also can’t get the image of Melo getting blocked by Roy Hibbert in the 2013 playoffs out of my head. It really has been pretty much all downhill since that moment, after 10 straight playoff appearances.

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New York is a different animal. It doesn’t matter who you are, even the best can get chewed up and spit out here. You may think it’s tough to feel bad for someone in the midst of a $124 million contract, but that’s how bad it’s gotten. I think Kristaps is beginning to realize that as well, which is scary to think we could potentially lose him, too. The dysfunction in this toxic organization is shameful. It’s tragic that Phil Jackson is going to be here the next two years. I pray Carmelo gets dealt to a potential contender like Cleveland so he can show up all the haters and get that championship ring he’s been starving for. The 10-time All-Star is still a big-time player that can get buckets in bunches with the best of them.

From a die-hard Knicks fan, thank you Carmelo Kiyan Anthony for wanting to conquer the basketball mecca, a challenge that most would shy away from. From the Mike D’Antoni era, to Linsanity, Phil Jackson and more, we’ve been through it all together. My favorite to ever suit up in the blue and orange, I just wish the ending was different. Goodbye Carmelo.

The end of an era. Stay Me7o.

What Should The Knicks Do With Carmelo Anthony?

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The million dollar question of the Knicks season, what is going to happen with Carmelo Anthony? The Knicks sit 3 games out of a playoff spot with a record of 20-26 and not much hope going forward, as the experiment has not panned out thus far.

Phil Jackson can add another media blunder to his resume this season, with the leaking of a potential deal sending Anthony to the Cavaliers. Phil has now pitted himself against Anthony the rest of the way. Great, our best player and team president are now butting heads. I guess their “meeting” last week did not do much. Time and time again Phil has left coach Hornacek and Melo out to dry as the team spokesmen with Jackson nowhere to be found, except when he wanted to address his divorce and calling out LeBron’s “posse.”

Now there are a few ways the ‘Bockers can handle the Melo situation.

1. Add veterans and make a push for the playoffs.

If Phil does not want to give in and truly believes the Knicks are a playoff team, he will add a tough wing defender at the deadline to hopefully propel this team to the post-season down the stretch.

2. Stand pat.

He may do absolutely nothing the rest of the way and collect his $12 million for the year.

3. If it gets really ugly, a fire-sale at the deadline.

Now I think it would have to get really ugly for this to happen, and the Knicks go into all out tank mode and focus on building around Porzingis. They would trade away guys like Rose, Melo and Jennings and take whatever haul they could get for the trio.

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What I Believe Will Happen:

I think it will be too tough to find a potential place that one, Melo would agree to waive his no-trade clause to go and two, get enough pieces to satisfy Phil to deal the 9-time All-Star. It would definitely take three teams to facilitate a trade. Contenders like Cleveland, Toronto and Boston could be interested.

My bro sent me this deal as a possibility and I want to throw up if this is all we could get for a player of Carmelo’s caliber. Knicks would also receive a 1st round pick this year from Toronto.

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With the media circus getting out of control, I really hope this team can put together a few wins and quiet the outside noise and get back in the playoff picture like we were prior to Christmas.

I respect the shit out of Carmelo’s unwavering loyalty to this team, it’s a shame we could not surround him with better talent. It’s also been pleasant to see Melo’s game rise as the distractions around him also increase. He is playing his best basketball of the season, going about his business the right way on and off the floor.

#StayMelo #BeatTheMavs #BenchNoah

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