My favourite stage of the NBA season is almost upon us. No, it’s not the All-Star game or the commencement of the playoffs, but the NBA Trade Deadline.
A time of the year where a borderline playoff team can become a contender, benches get strengthened, and superstars get traded.
All of the late January trade deadline buzz centres around the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony. Will Phil Jackson trade him, or won’t he?
Jackson has failed to develop a roster around his ageing superstar, and outside of one successful playoff series under coach Mike Woodson – which feels like it occurred about ten seasons ago in the minds of Knicks fans – this team has drastically underperformed in a weak Eastern Conference.
However, the caveat of this discussion centres around Anthony waiving his no-trade clause. Currently, this seems as though it is certainly not off the table, and in that case, let’s discuss which teams would be in the market for Carmelo Anthony.
1. Denver Nuggets
A return to Anthony’s old stomping ground would make sense purely from a salary perspective. The Nuggets have a heap of salary cap space on their roster and a number of desirable players they could package together in a trade deal.
The Knicks would have some interest in the out of favour Jusuf Nurkic, the sporadic Will Barton and the talented small forward Wilson Chandler. A deal could secure the Nuggets that final playoff spot in the West and perhaps soften their eventual 4-0 playoff drubbing by the Warriors.
The trouble for Denver is, Anthony could and would most likely opt out at the end of the season and seek to join a true playoff contender, leaving them with nothing.
2. Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are an intriguing possibility for Anthony. The small forward position has been their roster weakness in recent times with the likes of Wesley Johnson, Alan Anderson, Paul Pierce and current starter Luc Richard Mbah a Moute filling the void.
Anthony would be an obvious upgrade in this position and a much-needed one at that. A trade for Anthony would probably require a dissolution of the current LA ‘big three’ of Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin.
The most likely trade would be Anthony for Jordan, with Jamal Crawford as an additional part to the puzzle. While Jordan is young, the LA window is right now. Paul and Griffin are soon to be free agents and the team has underperformed, considering the opportunities they have had in the playoffs over recent years.
Jordan becomes a liability late in playoff games, while Anthony would provide the clutch scoring the team has lacked over the years. Watch this space.
3. Cleveland Cavaliers
Onto my final and least likely trade destination for Anthony, reigning title-holders the Cavaliers. Why would they trade for Carmelo? Who would they give up for him?
The talk of the town this past week has been a Love for Melo trade. This wouldn’t make much sense to either team right now.
Cleveland, as a team that struggles to gather rebounds, would be trading away an average of 11 rebounds per game and gaining just one extra point per game in offensive scoring. The Knicks would be gaining a player who has been beset by injuries in recent years in Love.
It really would be a New York Knicks move to trade for Love and have him miss large portions of the upcoming seasons, wouldn’t it?
The Cavs would be acquiring an older, less versatile player in Anthony. But, what they would be gaining is a third ball handler, which LeBron James has been screaming out for in the press recently. This would lessen the burden upon James and Kyrie Irving, as one of these superstars is in the rotation at all times due to their lack of a backup point guard.
Losing Love is too great a risk for the Cavs, and they are much more likely to seek a veteran free agent point guard than attempt this monumental move.
While it is certainly possible Carmelo remains with the Knicks for the remainder of the season before opting out at the end of the season, the momentum is building towards an in-season move before the trade deadline.
What was once a coup for the Knicks when they first recruited Anthony, has turned out to be a nightmare for them. What, if anything, will they be able to obtain for Anthony?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this one!
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