Where should Carmelo Go?

Where should Carmelo Anthony Go?


Carmelo Anthony has solidified his place in my top 5 favorite current NBA players. As frustrating as the last 8 season have been as a fan, he can nullify that with the decisions he and his management team make over the next few weeks. I’ve mulled over a few of the publicized opportunities he may have and have narrowed them down to four. I’m going to rank them in order of my least favorite to favorite. Here we go;

4. New York Knicks via Trade;

a. Of the publicized proposals this is my least favorite. I know Carmelo wants to be in New York and New York wants him, but as they say, “Patience is a virtue” and that trait needs to be exercised in this situation. The New York Knicks are currently a 6 seed in the east, and much publicity has been given to their improvement. While the Knicks are a much improved team they are not good enough to be able to give away two starters and jump into the top 3 in the east no matter who they are replacing them with. I think the New York faithful will be more than happy with an improved team that makes a play-off run in year one of their rebuilding process. Losing the pieces they would in a trade (Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, and Anthony Randolph) to acquire one piece in Carmelo Anthony is not good business, when you can get him in a few months with all your pieces intact.

3. Los Angeles Lakers via Trade (Anderw Bynum);

a. As a big time Celtic fan I really hoped the Lakers pulled the trigger on this trade. This trade is a Lose-Lose for both sides. The Lakers would lose their Identity. I’m in no way saying that Andrew Bynum is the face of the Lakers. The Lakers already have a championship Pedigree, which is built around defense. The essence of defense is protecting the rim. Even with the much maligned Andrew Bynum, he was an effective defender that added toughness to an otherwise pretty soft roster of big men. The trade would leave the Lakers with a soft 7 footer in Pau Gasol, and an even softer power forward in Lamar Odum. So in the trade the Lakers would lose a top defensive center, and sit down their best defender in Ron Artest, only to replace them with the aforementioned Lamar Odum, Pau Gasol, and the notoriously lackadaisical defender Carmelo Anthony. Supporters of this trade argued that with a change of systems he would be a better defender. What they don’t understand is that Carmelo isn’t lacking the ability to be a decent defender, he lacks the wherewithal to be one. Throughout his career he has shown that he doesn’t care to defend his man with effort until the last few minutes of games and as they say; “Leopards don’t change their spots”. I made this argument before but I think this trade would turn the Lakers into an older less athletic version of the Miami heat. They would have an un-athletic Pau Gasol playing Chris Bosh, a slightly inferior Carmelo Anthony playing Lebron James, and an aging Kobe Bryant playing Dwayne Wade. In the long run this is bad situation for both parties.

2. New York Knicks via Free Agency

a. Carmelo Anthony becoming a Knick via free agency creates a Laundry list of advantages compared to him being traded to the Knicks. The number one advantage is flexibility. The Knicks would have their current roster +1. Granted it’s a very big one, but keeping the roster intact makes his addition that much more impactful. Even if you did want to trade away those pieces you would have lost in the original trade, you can now trade those pieces for more form fitting players around your core. The Knicks have a system that Carmelo could strive in. It is up tempo and defense is optional. I’m not saying that the addition of Carmelo to the Knicks skyrockets them above the Heat or Celtics but anything can happen in a series when you have two superstars on your side.

1. Denver Nuggets (Just Stay)

a. This option may surprise a lot of people as my favorite, but if you read along you will understand my reasoning. The Nuggets are currently a 6 seed in the west, after dealing with all of the speculations of a Carmelo trade looming. They have in the past and could easily be this year, a top 3 western conference team. The West is an aging conference while the East is full of young thoroughbreds that will reign supreme the next 6 years or so. With Phil Jackson’s retirement coming at season’s end, Laker supporters have no idea the type of impact losing him will have to the chemistry and eventual success of future Laker teams. The Nuggets (along with the Thunder) have one the top young nucleases in the west. They have their franchise man in Carmelo Anthony. They have a top young PG in Ty Lawson. They have a solid PF in Nene. The Nuggets are one defensive 7 footer from being favorites in the west. A guy like say, Greg Oden could catapult the Nuggets into to Western Conference supremacy. As the Lakers and Spurs age out of contention the Nuggets and Thunder are waiting in the wings to take their place. I feel if Carmelo stayed where he was and trusted his Management team to make the right personnel moves, this would put him closer to claiming a title than any of the above moves would.

Just a thought.