Carmelo Anthony Not Worth Breaking Up Gallo/Chandler/Fields Combo
Not a day goes by without one of the sports media outlets discussing where Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony will end up between now and when he becomes a free agent in July. We all know that playing home games at Madison Square Garden has been a craving for the slightly frustrated star over the last few months. Speculation of a possible trade sending him to the Knicks, Nets, or Bulls has been extant since training camp. Much to his pleasure, majority of the speculation involves him becoming a Knick.
Many feel that acquiring the Syracuse alum, would push the Knicks into the NBA's elite. The 16-10 squad has played inspired basketball over the past few weeks led by the surging Amar'e Stoudemire, but they are not widely viewed as championship contenders. Adding another world class talent to play next to Stoudemire looks on paper to be a home run hitting move. They would likely, however, have to give up at least one of the three young talents in Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, or Landry Fields. All of which are current starters for New York, as well as fan favorites. Bringing in Anthony is worth not dissembling the youthful trio.
Although Anthony is among the NBA's best players and arguably the top pure scorer in the game, Gallo, 15 points and 4 rebounds a game; Chandler, 17 points and 6 rebounds; and Fields, 10 points and seven rebounds; have meshed too well together thus far to risk losing that great chemistry by replacing one or two of them with Anthony. Gallo, who has always provided above average three point shooting, has now developed an all-around scoring ability that's been on display the last month and a half or so. Chandler has been a physical athletic wing presence, who is a perfect fit for Coach Mike D'Antoni's system playing both forward positions this season. Fields has been a pleasant surprise in his rookie year, playing the role of an on-court Swiss army knife, providing perimeter defense, rebounding, high field goal percentage, and a veteran level basketball IQ. The three have been key to the current renaissance of the Knicks franchise, and have earned the right to keep playing for them.
Carmelo's prolific ability to put the ball in the basket paired with Stoudemire's more of the same in D'Antoni's high octane offense would allow New York, who is already averaging almost 109 points per game, to put up even gaudier scoring numbers. But does that really make them a championship level team?
I don't see it.
The Knicks already lead the league in scoring. So improving in that aspect is unnecessary. They currently, however, rank 27th in opponent points per game. And Anthony has not been known as a stout defender throughout his 7+ year career. A strong presence inside is really what they need to get, should they make a major trade. New York also ranks 25th in rebounds and 24th in opponent rebounds. Wednesday night against the Celtics, they gave up 62 points in the paint, and Kevin Garnett had his way all night around the basket. With D'Antoni falling out of love with Timofey Mozgov, a trade for a center to do the dirty work for them, as opposed to Anthony, would actually be worth giving up Gallo, Chandler, and or Fields. As great as Amar'e has been this season, he is not, nor has he ever been, a guy who is going to provide a great amount of Oakley-esque qualities down low. Especially playing at center.
The Knicks have already exceeded expectations this season. Unless they're filling an absolute need, they should not make drastic changes to their roster. Keeping the current group together and seeing how much success they have with it, instead of going after Antnony right now, seems like the better option. Following the season, if they really want him, they can choose to acquire him via free agency without giving anyone up. But right now, the aforementioned youthful trio should be favored over Carmelo.
