Carmelo Anthony To The Knicks? Too Much Smoke To Not Be Fire!

Last night Chris Sheridian reported that the Knicks have made progress the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes.

"

"After a period of dormancy following the collapse of a four-team trade late last month between New Jersey, Denver, Utah and Charlotte, the Knicks got back in on the bidding about two weeks ago after Anthony made it known to the Nuggets that he would not budge on his refusal to sign a three-year, $65 million contract extension with Denver.

The offers the Knicks have proposed have always centered around packages including Anthony Randolph, the expiring contract of Eddy Curry and a first-round draft pick they would acquire from a third team, and New York has softened its stance on including forward Danilo Gallinari in a trade.

"

"

The most recent obstacle, according to the source, was for the Knicks to use one of those assets, likely Randolph or Gallinari, to acquire a player from a third team that the Nuggets value more highly than either of the Knicks forwards. The source said that obstacle can now be overcome, with the Knicks confident they can get their hands on a player the Nuggets would prefer."

"

I can definitely see this happening. As a Knicks season ticket holder, I've been following the team incredibly closely to the point of obsession. I've scoured the web for any new intel about the teams intentions and have listened to just about every Mike D'Antoni or Donnie Walsh interview I could find searching for any clues or subtleties that might hint one way or the other.  When the first trade talks of Melo surfaced I thought the Knicks would at a minimum have to give up Anthony Randolph AND Danilo Gallinari to land the all star power forward but didn't think the Knicks would pull the trigger because they genuinely sounded like Randolph/Gallinari would be future core players for the Knicks.  Both are under 23 years old. Gallinari has the sweet stroke in a 6'11'' Dirk Nowitzki-type body while Randolph possesses that freakish athleticism that's so rare to find.

But recently, I started to get the feeling that the Knicks were loosing patience with these two.  Lets start first with Randolph. Randolph has been slow in preseason and while at times he's shown promise, he's mostly gotten garbage minutes and doesn't seem to have a firm hold in the rotation.  "He's got big potential, but he hasn't done a whole lot," said D'Antoni about Randolph. Throw in a 0 rebound performance last night vs the Nets and its not hard to see D'Antoni lose some patience with the youngster.

For Gallinari, the situation is a bit more complex. Gallo's father played ball in Italy with D'Antoni so there's some family connection between the two that's benefited the coach's bond with the fellow Italian.  But while Gallinari plays the style that D'Antoni I can't help but get the sense that the coach is getting frustrated by Danilo's lack of development.  After Gallinari's woeful 0-7 shooting performance vs the Celtics, the coach said, "I guess it's one of those nights he didn't bring it. That's the point. He has to be razor sharp to make the jump and we've talked about it. "  And though, Gallinari was able to chalk up 7 points with one three and six rebounds vs the Nets, its not like his presence last night screamed untouchable (believe me - I was at the game. The best minutes the Knicks had were when Gallinari was on the bench).

This brings me back to the news this morning that Knicks have made progress on the Melo trade front.  It feels like Knicks are willing to part now with both and while Nuggets only covet one of them (lets assume Gallinari), if the Knicks can turn Randolph into another asset that Denver would like maybe this trade can happen.  Check out my trade scenario which assumes a three way deal between the Knicks, Pacers and Nuggets. In my scenario the Nuggets get Danilo Gallinari from the Knicks, Paul George from the Pacers plus picks while the Pacers get Anthony Randolph and the Knicks get Carmelo Anthony. I assume the Pacers could be the third player involved only because the earlier rumor during the summer was that a deal was close to in place between Indiana/Knicks/Portland that would have sent Randolph to the Pacers, Rudy Fernandez to the Knicks and a first round pick to Portland. If Pacers do value Randolph this highly I can see them parting with George for him and potentially even include the first rounder to re-direct to Denver.  If lets say the Knicks could get a 2nd round pick for Wilson Chandler from another team, a package that included: Gallinari / George / Curry expiring contract + 1st round pick from Pacers + 2nd round pick from Knicks (via another trade i.e. Chandler)...couldnt' that be enough to grab Melo? ESPN Trade Machine says so what do you think?