Schmeelk: It's Obvious To Everyone — Melo Isn't Part Of The Solution
By John Schmeelk
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I never thought Carmelo Anthony was going to re-sign with the Knicks.
It didn't make sense to me. For someone who needed to win a championship in the worst way to secure his legacy, why would he rejoin a franchise that had just missed the playoffs, couldn't overhaul its roster for another year, and had a rookie head coach and president? It didn't add up. If I were in Melo's shoes, I would have gone to Houston or Chicago, if a sign-and-trade could have been worked out.
But, for whatever reason, Anthony's calculations made New York the right place for him. Maybe he thought Phil Jackson would do for the Knicks what Pat Riley did for the Heat, except on fast-forward. He was taking a leap of faith that New York would turn things around and become a contender relatively quickly.
The New York Post reported this morning that Anthony is willing to waive his no-trade clause in the right situation. His agent later denied the report, and Anthony said, "After all the work I did to get here, and get back here? If I was to get up and want to leave now that would just make me weak." But for a moment let's assume the report is true. That means it took 24 games and less than six months for Melo to realize he made a mistake. The Knicks aren't close to winning a championship. The team is bound for a top-three pick this year. The entire roster will turn over in the offseason, and the free-agent class this summer (assuming Marc Gasol returns to Memphis) offers no quick path to title contention.
This is going to be a time-consuming and painful process -- and Melo is realizing that.
Anthony has already dealt with a back injury this year, and now he has a knee injury that could require surgery. He sees the clock ticking on his prime years and is realizing that by the time the Knicks are ready to win, he will be a declining player or maybe even too beat up to be effective for 82 games. New York is not the place for him to win a championship. It never was. But Anthony fooled himself into thinking the opposite.
Melo wanted to be in New York so he could be the person to bring a parade to a title-starved town. He wanted to be here to show loyalty to the team that traded so much to get him. Those are laudable ideals. He also wanted to be in New York to help his brand and his other endeavors. He wanted to be in New York because the Knicks could offer him the most in terms of years and money. That's business, and no one should be faulted for that either. He allowed all the above reasons to cloud his basketball judgment as to whether or not he could win here. He fooled himself and has just realized it.
And now he is in an extremely tricky predicament. Anthony never wants to be branded the bad guy (think back to how he never would even admit he wanted Mike D'Antoni gone), so he won't flat-out demand a trade. If he did that, all of New York would turn on him. He would be treated like a pariah. So instead, and not coincidentally right before his contract can be traded, Anthony's camp (if Marc Berman of the Post is to be believed) leaked to the media that he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause to go the right team.
Of course, it's going to be very hard for Jackson to find such a deal. That team must have expiring contracts or a large enough trade exception to take Anthony without sending back long-term contracts. The team must also have young assets, or in the very least, draft picks to give the Knicks some level of compensation. Anthony's balky knee (if he wants to get dealt, now there really is no surprise he wants to rest the knee) might also be an impediment to a trade. Jackson is also going to have to be willing to take back quarters on the dollar. Don't forget Anthony has a trade kicker that will make it more difficult for a team to take on his contract as well.
A trade like that will also likely require the approval of James Dolan, which would be the equivalent of giving Jackson the green light to tank for a draft pick and go through a long-term rebuilding process involving a lot of losing, poor ticket sales, brutal television ratings and a bad product. It might be the best thing for the organization, but that hasn't meant a whole lot to Dolan in the past.
All in all, even if Anthony wants to get traded, and Jackson and Dolan decide they want to move him (odds of this right now, I my opinion, are small), finding a suitable landing spot will be extremely difficult. There might not be a single match out there. The Rockets wanted him in the offseason, but they are 17-5 and unlikely to want to break up their team. The Mavericks don't have the salaries to send back to the Knicks unless they want to move Chandler Parsons and a few of their expiring contracts. The Bulls have players they could send the Knicks to match salary, but they all have long-term contracts. The Lakers have Jeremy Lin and a couple of expiring contracts, but they don't have the young assets or draft picks the Knicks might want.
There is no great fit because of Anthony's contract, and the team's current situation. Finding a partner will be tough. But one thing is slowly becoming clear: it's less and less likely that Anthony will be part of the final solution for the Knicks.
It's just a matter of when both he and organization make that final decision -- and figure out a way to move on that's good for all involved.
You can follow me on Twitter @Schmeelk for everything Knicks, Giants and the world of sports.
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