Carmelo Anthony Trade Rumors: Do the Lakers or Knicks Have the Better Offer?

The past few weeks have been out of control with the Carmelo Anthony trade talks and yet there still hasn't even been a deal in place that fell through. Will Anthony be traded before the February 24 deadline?

It has yet to be seen where, but right now the New York Knicks and Los Angels Lakers seem to be the clear favorites if a deal is to be made.

First off, it should be stated that it has been perceived by many that the Nuggets are just trying to get the snowball going by adding the Lakers into the mix.

By doing this Denver is hoping the Knicks will hurry up and get a deal done, because why would the Nuggets really want to keep Anthony in the West (by moving him to L.A.) if they have the option of trading him?

With the trade talks surrounding the Knicks and the Lakers for Carmelo, lets discuss which of the two has the better offer on the table at the moment. 

What do the Lakers have to offer?

Center, Andrew Bynum.

The seven-footer is young at 23-years-old with a very solid frame filling out at 285 pounds.

Bynum would give Denver a huge All-Star caliber center (he can't be an All-star till he makes it through a season first) with great hands and excellent touch. 

He is also a very good post defender who protects the basket very well.

But, there are some concerns with Bynum as well.  He has had constant knee injuries the past three seasons—missing 96 games combined.

Averaging 25.4 minutes-per-game this season, he is averaging 11 PTS, 7 REB and 1.8 BLK.

With a player efficiency rating of 20.46, he can be considered a top-five center in the league.

Most of the trade talks so far between the Nuggets and Lakers have revolved around a deal with a straight up trade for Bynum and Melo.

This deal is appealing to both teams simply for one reason: Trading Bynum's two-year $13.7 million-dollar-contract clears enough space to absorb Anthony's remaining two-years (with a player-option after this season) worth $17.1 million.

If the Lakers actually do try to pursue Carmelo this seems like the most logical deal, since the numbers work for both parties.

There also have been rumors of Ron Artest possibly being shipped out of town, but that seems more-and-more less likely as of now.

A trade consisting of Artest for Anthony financially just wouldn't work for the Lakers—as they would still have to move another nine-million-dollars worth of contracts.

What do the Knicks have to offer?

The New York Knicks find themselves in a bit of a jam—thanks to Isiah Thomas's stupidity as President of Basketball Operations from 2003-to-2008—with little cap room to work worth.

Over the course of this past off-season New York was able to diffuse some of their issues working with the cap.

In order for the Knicks to trade for Anthony they will need to cut $17 million dollars worth of contracts; Meaning New York will have to get rid of probably at least three players.

This is hard for the Knicker-bockers because they can't even trade away just center Eddy Curry (and his ridiculous $11.2 million dollar contract) and small forward Wilson Chandler ($2.1 million dollar contract).

Now, enough of the numbers lets discuss who the Knicks could trade for Carmelo.

Small Forward, Wilson Chandler.

At 6'8" Chandler is unique as he can play the two, three or four position. 

A smart defender and rebounder who is putting up decent numbers averaging (16 PTS, 6 REBS) on the season.

However, he is not a solid 2 guard at his height as he lacks the ball handling skills necessary for a guard. Not to mention he likes to shoot a lot from outside.

Chandler is a long wing whose best attribute is attacking the basket, ironically, which he doesn't do enough—averaging just 0.19 free throw attempts per-field-goal-attempt. 

Center, Eddy Curry.

Curry could have been a monster of an athlete.  He is 7' weighing in at 295 pounds whose only played in seven games this season.

He virtually has had zero impact in the league—never averaging a double-double—since being drafted fourth-overall in 2001 by Chicago.

The possibility of him playing for his third team could finally convince him to get into basketball shape.

When in shape—I say "when in shape," with grain of salt, as he has never played an entire season—he is a natural low-post scorer that can move out and hit from 15 feet if need be.

Other than that, Curry is a turnover machine who looks helter-skelter when faced with a double-team in the post. 

Power Forward, Danilo Gallinari.

He has the ability to shoot lights-out from deep range currently averaging 35 percent. Thanks to his height at 6'10" he can release his jumper with ease over closing defenders, even if his release is a tad flat at times.

The Italian does an excellent job using the pump fake setting up drives to the basket. However, he is not the best one-on-one player.

Gallinari's a tweener as he can play the three or four spot, but for his frame he is horrendous when it comes to rebounding, averaging just 4.6 per-game.

He is not even ranked in the Top 50 for rebound rate among power forwards, which needs to change. 

In the end he will probably best suite a team at the power forward position.

Guard, Landry Fields.

The rookie is putting on a solid first-year-campaign (10 points, seven rebounds) shooting 38 percent beyond-the-arc.

He has a high basketball IQ—he play'd at Stanford, mind you—and is a solid but not great athlete.

It's also noteworthy that at 6'7" he can play the two guard exceptionally well for his height and age.

Landry has good upside and if he can improve his sub-par free throw percentage (76 percent) and stay consistent with his mid-range game (51 percent) he could be a solid sixth man for many years.

What are the results?

The Knicks clearly can offer the most players, but in this case, the quantity doesn't conclude in great quality.

Andrew Bynum from the Lakers gives the Nuggets the best offer for Anthony over whoever New York decides they can live without.