Why the Carmelo Anthony Trade Was Still the Right Move for the New York Knicks

The early season struggles of the New York Knicks have been well-documented. Two of the more glaring issues have been a lack of cohesion and a lack of depth. Both of these can be attributed to the trade for Carmelo Anthony, due to his isolation-heavy style of play and the fact the Knicks gutted their roster to get him.

Fans are now beginning to have buyer's remorse with 'Melo. This is shortsighted.

The Knicks did not trade for Anthony to contend this season; they made the trade to contend for the next six to eight seasons, and hopefully this season. This was primarily a long-term move.

The Knicks have a much better shot at winning a title with Anthony as their best player as opposed to Amar'e Stoudemire. Whether they could have passed on 'Melo and then paired Amar'e with Chris Paul, Deron Williams or Dwight Howard in the summer of 2012 is speculative and not something the Knicks should have been thinking about at last year's trade deadline.

Had the Knicks not traded for Anthony, they may very well have been a better regular-season team this year. They almost certainly would have been more fun to watch. But that team would have no chance of upsetting Chicago or Miami in the playoffs. If Baron Davis can eventually give the Knicks good point guard play, then this team has a good shot of doing just that, despite the lack of talent outside the starting five.

Stoudemire is a great player, and put this team on his back for a good portion of last season. That is why he should and will continue to be the final player announced in the starting lineups at the Garden. But the Knicks were not doing anything special with him as their main guy.

In the playoffs, when everything breaks down, you need someone to just throw the ball to and say "score." That is not Amar'e. He is a slashing, pick-and-roll power forward with little to no post game. More so, because so much of what he does is based on athleticism, he probably only has about three really good years left.

You most definitely can give the ball to Anthony and say "score." In fact, he's arguably the best in the league at it. In Game 2 against the Boston Celtics last year, with Chauncey Billups and Amar'e out, 'Melo came about as close as you can to beating a team by yourself, with 42 points and 17 rebounds. People seem to forget this.

And Carmelo's game is based on quickness, strength and finesse, not explosive athleticism. Because of that, he has at least six more years of elite play in him. It his highly likely that Carmelo will be with the Knicks much longer than Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler.

After a decade of futility, it's hard to look five, six years down the road. But that is what you have to do when assessing the Anthony trade. The Knicks are thin and they're not comfortable playing with each other yet. So be it. That will come with time.

Over the years the Knicks will gladly pay the luxury tax and continue to add pieces. In the post-Isiah Knicks, I do not question the Anthony trade. What I do question, is whether after it became apparent LeBron James was not coming, maybe the Knicks should have counted their losses, passed on Stoudemire, collected assets and made acquiring Anthony their sole focus and then building around him.