Carmelo Anthony to the Los Angeles Lakers Rumors: A Quick Reaction
The Nuggets are apparently considering shipping out 'Melo—and to a conference rival, nonetheless.
The deal discussed looks pretty much like an Anthony for Andrew Bynum swap. For the Nuggets, they get a 23-year-old potential franchise center...even if he usually misses a third of the season. For the Lakers, they sacrifice one of their 7-footers to add a scoring machine who can replace the corpse of Ron Artest. Sources differ on whether Artest or Lamar Odom would be included in the deal.
The core portion of the deal doesn't look like an improvement over the Knicks' offer—currently looking like a No. 1 pick (trading Anthony Randolph to the Timberwolves for the lottery protected first round picks of either the Grizzlies or the Jazz), Eddy Curry's expiring mega-deal and Wilson Chandler.
The Nuggets balked based on a recent report the Chandler's surgically repaired ankle is bothering him, but I'm not sure how Bynum is a safer option. They also want to have Landry Fields and/or Danilo Gallinari included.
For the Knicks, including Fields or Gallinari made sense when they were contending with the Nets blockbuster offer of two first round picks, a potential building block in Derrick Favors, and slew of other assets.
When it was clear 'Melo didn't want to throw away more of his career playing with subpar teammates, the Knicks seemed to be in great position: he publicly stated he only wanted to play for the Knicks so they could just wait until the summer to sign him for much less under the new collective bargaining agreement, without having to give up any assets.
Unfortunately for them, there is interest from other teams. Unlike the Mavs and the Rockets, who were discussed because they wouldn't require 'Melo to sign an extension before the trade, the Lakers appear to be an acceptable place to settle for the long haul.
They're a winning franchise with a shot at the title this season; they play in the second biggest market in the league; and his wife, reality star La La Vazquez, could find numerous new gigs to continue her career. Sources close to 'Melo says he'd be willing to sign an extension there.
But this development is best for the Nuggets. We always knew 'Melo would be remiss to leave all that guaranteed money on the table, especially with a potential lockout on the horizon. But it was looking like the Nuggets would have to accept the Knicks' poo-poo platter in return with nothing to inflate the bidding. They just found their hot air balloon.
From the Lakers perspective, this deal makes sense—even though it turns one of their strengths into a potential weakness. Carmelo fills a need, even though he's a high-usage player playing with the king of high-usage players in Kobe Bryant.
Still, it's hard to imagine Kobe-'Melo being much different than LeBron-Wade in terms of success and all-around-terrifying-ness.
However, much like the Magic did with Dwight Howard's backup Marcin Gortat, dealing away your second best center is a risk—not just because of injuries but of because how it forces you to change your offensive and defensive schemes. But since Bynum has had such a checkered injury history, it's a gamble I think most would take.
Ultimately I think this is a ploy by the Nuggets to increase the asking price for 'Melo. They don't want to have to play the "'Melo Yellow" Lakers for the next three seasons, nor does anyone else in the NBA. Dealing him to the Knicks still has to be their best case scenario, but in The Association we've seen too many boneheaded GM moves (see: Kahn, David and Thomas, Isiah) to think it's out of the question.
