NBA Rumors: What's Needed for Carmelo Anthony-Chris Paul NY Super Team

The current NBA headlines that don’t feature Heat players and what they have or haven’t done seems to be surround the New York Knicks organization and their aspirations of creating a All-Star trio of their own.

The likely hood of such a thing happening is slim to none. Yet the Media is selling the notion as if it’s as likely to happen as LeBron James being booed in first return game to Cleveland.

The circumstances that the Heat organization find themselves in is one that is a once in a lifetime scenario. It was a perfect set of circumstances that all feel into place.

How often will we see three close friends, who all are top 10 players and just so happen to be free agents in the same off season? I wager bout as often as Charles Barkley makes an intelligent statement.

However, the idea of Amar’e Stoudemire, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony being on one team is very much a possibility…no matter how slim the chances.

So rather than speculate why it won’t come to be, I elected to venture the path of what it would take for such a thing to be.

So enjoy…

5. Convince duo that the East is easiest path to the Finals

In respect to the other 14 teams not lucky enough to have the Miami Heat logo on it. Logically speaking, the East belongs to the Heat and will so for the next half-decade or so. The talent and skill they have assembled is unrivaled and will only get better. Keep in mind that the Heat will have several salary exemptions in the up-coming years.

So logically speaking, it doesn’t make since for Carmelo Anthony  and Chris Paul to leave the Western Conference. They both have been apart of Conference Finals’ games within the past three seasons. Surely a road to attaining a NBA championship would be much easier if they actually got to the Finals first.

For theatrical purposes, my gut tells me that both players would rather beat their Miami friends on the most grand of all NBA stages…the Finals. So it doesn’t really seem like New York is the spot for this to happen. However, the Media has said it is, so no one else is going to put up a fight to suggest otherwise.

Never mind the whole NBA rules on tampering. Going to be really hard convincing players of something you can’t talk to them about. But I guess this is where Amar’e Stoudemire comes in at.

So much for setting up guidelines to invoke the spirit of fair play?

4. Put a package together to trade for Chris Paul

The New Orleans Hornets aren’t just going to give Chris Paul away just for the sake of doing so. He’s too valuable to the economics and pride of the New Orleans people. In essence, he’s the basketball heartbeat of that community.

If the New York Knicks want Chris Paul on their roster, they’ll need to put together one heck of a package. And not just one laced with expiring contracts and potential draft picks. The Hornets will want future studs that can potentially sale tickets the way Chris Paul does, preferably someone under contract for two or more years.

So the Knicks basically will need to offer up young proven talent and NBA draft picks. If that’s the case, this bus ride will be over before it even begins. Here’s why I say this.

New York doesn’t have a first-round draft pick till the year 2014. That’s four years of waiting the Hornets can’t endure waiting. Not with it’s current level of talent. Then you have to take into account the $15 million Chris Paul is scheduled to make the next season. The Knicks would need to package together a group of players that fit the purposed criteria of stardom and years remaining under their contract.

They could piece together a package of Raymond Felton ($7-million), Danilo Gallinari ($4-million), Anthony Randolph ($2-million), Toney Douglas ($1-million) and Bill Walker ($1-million) to fit the criteria needed. However, the Hornets would need to have four available roster spots at the time the trade is made due to the different amount of incoming players to that exiting.

Currently the Hornets only have 11 players inked to guaranteed contracts. So the situation is in the idle format. Just a matter of the Hornets liking whatever the Knicks have to offer.

But wait? They still would have an issue of having first round draft picks. The Knicks would need to trade some of its current roster for future first-round talent.

More often than not, in-order too get a first round pick, you have to give up a first round talent. The Knicks currently has such. However those same players would be needed to fulfill any deal for Paul.

So as you can see. The Knicks are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

3. Carmelo Anthony must turn his back on Denver's contract extension

The Knicks can’t trade for Carmelo Anthony. They need him to come join via free agency. It’s the only way the Knicks have a realistic chance of landing an All-Star trio.

The reason they can’t trade for Carmelo is because they have to trade for Chris Paul who has two years remaining on his current contract. If they trade for Anthony and his larger contract they all but give up on any possibility of pairing the two players up for the future.

Carmelo has a “player option” for the 2011-2012 season. Something the Media has chosen to over look in order to create their Carmelo wants out of Denver story. If this sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James were all in a similar situation last season.

So just because Melo hasn’t signed his extension isn’t a true indication that he’s ready to leave Denver (not to say he isn’t.) It’s just one of those circumstantial situations that happen every year in the NBA. Anthony could merely be waiting to see what happens with the Collective-Bargaining agreement.

He has the entire season to decide whether or not to pick up the remaining year on his current deal or sign a new one. So for the Media to not tell the full story is poor journalism on their part.

Never mind the fact that Anthony hasn’t been quoted as saying he wants out of the Denver Nuggets organization.

2. Need to have the available cap space to sign Carmelo Anthony

If the Knicks go after Chris Paul first, they'll have over $32 million in salary committed to Amar'e Stoudemire and Chris Paul.

Regardless of the package they send to New Orleans for Chris Paul, it can't exceed the dollar value of Chris Paul's contract.

Why? Because New Orleans is $9 million over the salary cap.

That means the Knicks would need to have at least $17 million available come next summer or be able to package a deal together with Denver to match Carmelo's current deal.

In either senario, the situations is darn near impossible. The Knicks would need Anthony to sign a new contract with Denver for about $11 million a year and then force a trade...I think it's safe to say that isn't about to happen.

1. Just as much luck as the Miami Heat had fall in it's lap

In the end…it will boil down too luck.

Thanks to the Media, every team is now aware of what the Knicks are hoping to accomplish. No GM in his right mind will be willing to help another team create the kind of foundation for winning that the Knicks are panning. He’d have to be fired considering that the Knicks have nothing of value outside of Amar’e Stoudemire, Anthony Randolph, Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari.

None of those guys are franchise players or evoke a belief that they can guide a team to a title. No GM or team President would be able to explain to their respective fan base why they helped make another club better. So the chances of the Knicks making good on the Media’s created hoopla is miniscule at best.

But theMedia will keep creating different spins on the same story and most fans will continue to pay attention, just for the sake of. I’ll be too busy waiting for teams like the Blazers, Clippers and Nets to be brought into the fray. Their chances and situations are more favorable than that of the Knicks organization.

Hope you enjoyed it…of course Knick fans didn’t.