"I Tip My Hat Off To Myself For Not Getting Distracted With All The Trade Talk"-Carmelo Anthony
A little history about the trade that went down before I get to my take on it. Almost three years ago, when the Olympic team was in Beijing, Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony all were up to sign long term extensions. Three of them decided to sign together and do short term deals with their current teams so that could be possible. They asked Carmelo to do the same but he decided not to because he wanted to bring a championship to Denver. Melo built a lot of good will in the Mile High City.
Fast forward to last summer to Carmelo's wedding, after everyone watched LeBron and company team up in Miami, Chris Paul made a toast at Carmelo and Lala's wedding stating that he, Carmelo and Amare' should go to the Knicks. And thus that was the beginning of the end of Carmelo in Denver.
I don't understand why the Nuggets gave Carmelo to the Knicks. It doesn't make any sense and here is why. The new collective bargaining agreement would have given the Nuggets better option than dealing him for parts and pieces that you may or may not keep. The new CBA would have either given the Nuggets the franchise tag or made it so difficult for Carmelo to leave as a free agent. I would have called his bluff and see if he wanted to leave millions of dollars on the table. Carmelo would have lost money if he really wanted to go to the Knicks and the Nuggets did him a favor. Denver will never be able to replace Carmelo and his talents. It is tough to find such a scorer, who demands double teams. Those guys are once in a lifetime talents. Just ask Cleveland.
So the Knicks got him, now what? They will be ok but as far as championships, I just don't see it. Carmelo is a great scorer, no doubt about that and paired with Amare' they will be tough to beat in the regular season. With D'Antonio offensive genius, the Knicks will fill it up on the offensive end but defense is where they will struggle and that has been the knock on all of D'Antoni's team. If you look at the top teams that win championships in the NBA that had dynamic duos and trio's all of them were in the top five of defense. Magic and Kareem, Larry,Mchale, and Parish, Michael and Scottie, Kobe and Shaq, Tim and all the parts around him, all those mentions were in at the top or near the top in all the major defensive categories. No one has ever accused Carmelo and Amare' of being great defenders and that is the problem with this deal. Now with that said Carmelo and Billups did get the Nuggets to the Western Conference finals two years ago but when they needed to get a defensive rebound or multiple stops on a possession, they couldn't get it done.
As far as the super teams being formed, I think those days are over. The new CBA will try really hard to clamp down on players dictating where they can go. This dictating and holding teams hostage is not good for fans pr the league. Major cities cannot continue to monopolize the best talents because the smaller owners will either dump their franchise or collapse under the weight of a tough economy. By the way, I highly doubt that either Chris Paul or Deron Williams will find their way to New York. I'm not saying they stay with their current teams but the Knicks will not be able to afford either guy when the new CBA comes.
Lebron did not hold the Cavs hostage or demand a trade from Cleveland. LeBron waited until he was a free agent. Like it or not what Camelo did was worse. He did not fulfill his contract and made it so that he was becoming a distraction to his team. The fans in Denver were booing him and rightfully so because he gave them his word and now its worthless. You may have not liked LeBron's decision but he did not lie to the fanbase. Now the NBA has another villain to boo. Carmelo, the one who tips his hat to himself.
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