Carmelo Anthony Trade: Where Carmelo Will Rank Among the All-Time Great Knicks
Carmelo Anthony Trade Shakes Up the NBA and Knicks History
Carmelo Anthony trade is the talk of the NBA this morning. Putting ‘Melo in the East will make the NBA playoffs more interesting and should have the Knicks a viable contender.
The Knicks obviously have a rich history of incredible players going back several decades.
But where will Anthony fit into that collection of All-Star and Hall of Fame talent?
We’ve chosen the 15 greatest players ever to don the Knicks orange and blue and our prediction for where ‘Melo will fit into that collection.
No. 15: John Starks, SG
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Tenure: 1990-98
Achievements: 1994 All-Star
Starks has often been maligned for his performance in the 1994 NBA Finals: shooting 2-for-18 from the field in Game 7 (in addition to a 3-for-18 performance in Game 1) will do that.
But Starks had a very good, relatively lengthy career in New York. He was the three-point shooter that helped keep the Knicks in contention in the ultra-competitive East during the early-to-mid 1990s.
No. 14: Willie Naulls, PF
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Tenure: 1957-63
Achievements: four-time All-Star
Before the Knicks dynasty of the late-1960s, early 1970s, the club struggled in the early 1960s, routinely finishing well under .500.
But at least they had a dominant power forward in Willie The Whale.
Naulls was a 20- and 12-a-night player for the club, earning four spots in the All-Star Game.
In 1962, the Knicks dealt away Naulls, who would soon win three NBA rings with the rival Celtics and got a big-name player in Tom Gola. Unfortunately, Gola was at the end of his career and didn't contribute much in his three seasons.
No. 13: Mark Jackson, PG
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Tenure: 1987-92, 2001-02
Achievements: 1987-88 Rookie of the Year, 1989 All-Star
Jackson wasn't a Hall of Famer. But as a native New Yorker, who spent two different tenures in the Garden, he has to be considered one of their more popular players.
He was a double-double (assists-points) as a rookie and a key factor in the team's playoff triumph over Isaiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and the Bad Bowy Pistons in 1992.
No. 12: Dave DeBusschere, F
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Tenure: 1969-74
Achievements: five-time NBA All-Star, two-time NBA Champion
The Knicks might have gotten fleeced a bit on the Willie Naulls deal, but they certainly got the best of Detroit in the Walt Bellamy and Howard Komives for DeBusschere trade a few years later.
DeBusschere proved to be the missing piece in the Knicks championship puzzle.
The first full year he spent with the club, they won the NBA Finals, defeating the dynamic Lakers.
With DeBusschere patrolling the baseline and adding his 15 or so points per game the Knicks returned to the Finals twice more over the next four seasons, claiming a second world title in 1973.
No. 11: Richie Guerin, G
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Tenure: 1956-63
Achievements: six-time All-Star
The first great scorer in Knicks history, Guerin averaged 29.5 points during the 1961-62 season, but he was just as good a distributor.
On those subpar Knicks teams of the early 1960s, Guerin routinely finished the season in the top 10 in assists and was one of the league's best free-throw shooters.
The Knicks didn't get much in return when they dealt Guerin to the Hawks in 1963, but by selecting Howard Komives with the pick St. Louis gave them, New York was later able to acquire Dave DeBusschere, so it wasn't a total loss.
No. 10: Bill Bradley, F
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Tenure: 1965-77
Achievements: 1973 All-Star, two-time NBA Champion
Long before he was a senator and Presidential candidate, Bradley was a clutch shooter for that Knicks dynasty that won a pair of NBA Finals championships.
He only earned one All-Star trip but in the playoffs, Bradley really stepped up his game.
No. 9: Jerry Lucas, F
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Tenure: 1971-74
Achievements: 1973 NBA Champion
A few Hall of Famers—Bob McAdoo, Tom Gola, Walt Bellamy—didn't spend that much of their prime with the Knicks.
But at least Jerry Lucas, who is enshrined in Springfield more for what he did with the Cincinnati Royals than the Knicks, won a title in New York.
During his last three years in the NBA, Lucas made two Finals appearances and was a key contributor off the bench and a very efficient shooter.
No. 8: Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, G
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Tenure: 1971-80
Achievements: two-time All-Star, 1973 NBA Champion
The Knicks had already claimed an NBA title the year before they acquired Monroe from rival Baltimore.
So he was coming to a club that was already a contender.
Still, Monroe was a vital player for the club throughout the 1970s and by the middle of the decade was averaging a career 20 points per game.
No. 7: Allan Houston, G
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Tenure: 1996-2005
Achievements: two-time All-Star, 1999 Finals appearance
The signing of Houston remains one of the most important acquisitions in Knicks' history.
He was a reliable defender, a good outside shooter and routinely knocked in 18 to 22 points a game. With the departure of John Starks, Houston stepped to the forefront as the best second-option alongside Patrick Ewing.
And when Ewing left the Knicks, Houston became the franchise's centerpiece. Even if the club didn't achieve much during those years, the blame doesn't fall at Houston's feet; after all, he was playing on a club run by Isiah Thomas.
No. 6: Bernard King, F
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Tenure: 1982-87
Achievements: two-time All-Star, 1984-85 NBA scoring champion
The local hero (from Brooklyn) King only had a relatively brief stay with his home team. But it was an incredible four-year term.
Acquired from the Warriors for Michael Ray Richardson in 1982, King had a good first season in New York, averaging 22 points and five assists for a mediocre Hubie Brown team.
But a year later he emerged as one of the NBA's most prolific scorers.
And in a 1984-85 season shortened by a career-ruining ACL injury, no one—not even a rookie named Michael Jordan—posted a better average than his 32.5 points per game.
After missing the entire 1985-86 season and most of the next year while recovering from his knee surgery, King left New York as a free agent.
But for those two years when he was a safe bet to toss in 30 a night, there wasn't a bigger star in Knicks history.
No. 5: Amare Stoudemire, C
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Tenure: 2010-11
Achievements: 2011 NBA All-Star
It hasn't even been a full season yet, but the acquisition of Stoudemire has to be considered a rousing success. He's the second-leading scorer in the NBA, averaging over eight boards per night, and has the Knicks relevant again, over .500 and in second place in the Atlantic division.
Losing Raymond Felton and Danilo Gallinari (as is expected) would be a major blow to his productivity if it weren't for the arrival of a super star like Anthony.
The presence of a player like Melo will only open things up more for Stoudemire in the paint.
No. 4: Carmelo Anthony, F
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Tenure: ????
Achievements: ????
As important as Stoudemire has been to the Knicks recent resurgence, 'Melo would be even more so.
On the court, his game will improve once all this trade nonsense is complete. And since he's going to the team he wants to join, he has a lot of expectations riding on him. Expect him to meet them.
With bona fide star in the paint, which he never had in Denver, he'll be able to get to the lane more often and see softer defense on the edges.
For a player who has already won one NBA scoring title, the possibilities for the next 10 years are limitless.
And with the Celtics and Heat having stolen so much of the spotlight in the East, Anthony's arrival would make the Knicks a daily front-page story.
No. 3: Walt Frazier, G
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Tenure: 1967-77
Achievements: seven-time All-Star, two-time NBA champion
Tough choice between Frazier and all the other Hall of Famers on the Knicks dynasty of the 1970s, especially this entry and the next.
But we tried.
Frazier routinely dropped 20 points, six assists and six rebounds per game for New York and was even better in the postseason.
He almost never came out of the game during the playoffs and during the club's stunning Game 7 win over the Lakers in 1970, Frazier had an epic day: 36 points, 19 assists.
No. 2: Willis Reed, C
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Tenure: 1964-74
Achievements: 1970 NBA MVP, seven-time All-Star, two-time NBA Champion
Of all the greats to play for the Knicks, only one, Reed, ever won a league MVP.
Reed's performance in the 1970 Finals win over LA—coming off the bench with a torn thigh in Game 7—remains one of the most memorable and famous in the history of the sport.
But that was hardly all he did during a Hall of Fame career.
From 1966-71 he averaged better than 13 boards and 20 points or better each season, quite an achievement on a team with Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley.
And when the Knicks won their second title in 1973, Reed was the Finals MVP.
No. 1: Patrick Ewing, C
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Tenure: 1985-2000
Achievements: 11-time All-Star, two NBA Finals appearances
Say what you will about Ewing: He never led the Knicks to a title, he wasn't always a factor at the end of key games and inexplicably missed that layup in the team's loss to Indiana in 1995.
But he was still the greatest Knick of all time.
He averaged over 20 points a night for the first 13 years of his career, was one of the league's best rebounders and defenders and kept the Knicks in contention amongst the Celtics, Pistons and Bulls dynasties of the 1980s and 1990s.
No matter what Stoudemire or Anthony do in New York, since Ewing spent a decade and a half as the king of Madison Square Garden, they will forever be chasing his legacy.
