New York Knicks or New Jersey Nets: Who Got the Better Deadline Deal?
The Knicks traded the farm to get Carmelo Anthony, beating out the Nets in the process. A day later, the Nets landed Deron Williams in a completely surprising story.
The teams have never had a rivalry, at least not in the minds of New Yorkers, but new Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorav seems to be intent on making one.
From competing with New York for Anthony's interest, to being determined to get the team into Brooklyn, to landing a huge deal to steal the Knick's thunder one day later, this seems to be a man intent on making this a rivalry.
The question now is, has he succeeded?
There's certainly a case to be made that with all the fanfare that accompanied the season long roller coaster ride that was the Melo Drama, the Nets pulled off a bigger deal than the Knicks at the deadline.
First, it can be argued Deron Williams is a better acquisition than Carmelo Anthony. While Anthony is a better scorer, Williams is probably the better all-around player. While there's a debate over whether D-Will is the best point guard in the league, he is a part of that conversation. There's really no question as to whether Anthony is the best at his position—he's not even close. LeBron James is in a different level. Durant is the clear number two.
Furthermore, when you look at what the two teams had to give up to get their players, the Nets gave up three players actually on their roster right now, but only one was an integral part of their success. The other two only totaled 36 minutes a game for the Nets.
Meanwhile, the Knicks gave up a significant part of their roster to obtain Anthony and Chauncey Billups. They downgraded at point guard and gave up most of their perimeter scoring and draft choices besides. The Nets gave up draft picks too, but they gave up less talent actually playing on the team.
The case can be made the New Jersey Nets got the better deadline deal, particularly when you consider they had the worst bargaining position. That may in part be because of the complete under-the-radar way they executed the deal. It may be they didn't want the circus around this trade they had with the last one.
Clearly, Prokhorav has a very quick learning curve in this trade negotiation thing. He was roundly criticized for his handling of the Anthony situation, and apparently he's taken that criticism to heart and learned something.
For now, the Nets have a worse team, but the fact is they have taken a huge step towards the future. So what do you think, who got the better deal of the two teams in this trade, the Nets or the Knicks?
