Why The New Jersey Nets Are Better Off Than The New York Knicks

It’s a great week to be a basketball fan in the Tri-State area.

Yesterday, the Knicks finally landed superstar Carmelo Anthony in a three-team trade. Today the Nets responded by landing All-Star point guard Deron Williams via a trade with the Utah Jazz. 

While fans of both teams are understandably excited, at the end of the day, the future appears to be brighter for the Nets than the Knicks.  

Now don’t get me wrong, Anthony is a fantastic player who is exciting to watch.  Any time you can add a player who is averaging over 25 points a game, it can’t be a bad thing. 

However, there’s a lot of issues that emerge from this trade that will make it difficult for the Knicks to make the push to being a contender that many fans now expect.  

For one, scoring was never the Knicks' problem.  Before the trade, the Knicks had the second-best offense and were lighting teams up night after night. 

The problem with the Knicks is that they play absolutely zero defense.  While the Heat, Bulls, Celtics and Magic are among the top six teams in defense, the Knicks are languishing as the 28th best defense. 

How is adding a top scorer who plays no defense going to address this issue?  Sure, Anthony gives the team a threat in the fourth quarter to take some of the pressure off Amar’e Stoudemire (who is not exactly a defensive presence, either), but are they going to be able to get the defensive stops they need in order to be taken seriously?

Another thing to monitor is how well Anthony and Stoudemire play with each other. Is it possible for them to coexist?  The two stars say that it should be no problem and that they’re excited to play with each other, but the last time Anthony teamed up with another scoring superstar it did not end so well. 

Are there enough touches to satisfy both Anthony and Stoudemire?  And if not, what happens if they add another superstar like Chris Paul, as many fans expect?

The final question is can the Knicks even add a third superstar?  Unlike the Heat, where all three players agreed to take less money at the same time, the Knicks have already signed two players to max contracts. 

This leaves the third superstar in the less favorable position of being the only player making a sacrifice, and this sacrifice might be substantial if the salary cap is lowered as expected. 

Maybe if Stoudemire and Anthony agree to give up some money, they can lure a player like Paul, but it’s hard to imagine Anthony doing this after he just insisted on signing the full $65 million contract. 

If he had been serious about wanting to persuade another superstar to join the Knicks, wouldn’t he have taken less money?

Meanwhile, the Nets have the benefit of zero to no expectations.  No one expects them to make much noise this season anyway, so the real victory in this trade is that Williams gives them an excellent cornerstone to build their franchise around. 

He’s averaging over 21 points a game this year, which shows that he can score. More importantly, he’s averaging over 9 assists per game.  Williams is the type of player that can make those around him better just because of his passing abilities alone. 

He’s also no slouch on defense.  Now there is no guarantee that Williams will stick around after next season, but the Nets have a year and a half to prove to him that they are committed to winning, and they certainly have the means to do so. 

The tandem of Williams and Brook Lopez gives the Nets two cornerstones at two of the more important and difficult positions to fill: point guard and center. 

While their current roster other than these players leaves much to be desired, the Nets have accumulated a lot of draft picks that can be used to fill the roster with young, athletic players or that can be used as part of another deal to land a veteran.

In addition, they have the cash reserves of a Russian billionaire that can be used to lure a free agent such as David West, who would fit perfectly with this team. 

Or, they can wait a year and make a push for a player of Dwight Howard’s caliber. 

Despite giving up strong talent in Devin Harris and Derrick Favors, the Nets still have a lot of options in how they want to move forward from this point and improve.  

While trading for Williams certainly comes with the risk that he might bolt following next year, the Nets did what they had to in order to put themselves in the best position to emerge as a contender over the next few years.

Perhaps it’s the difference in expectations that is distorting the reality of each team’s situation, but from where I sit, it seems as if the Nets are in a much stronger position than the Knicks to emerge as a contender in the next few years.