Before you Knicks fans get too ecstatic, remember all the teams with 2 top ten players (and little else) that never won a thing, starting with Oscar Robertson/Jerry Lucas at the top of their games, or West/Baylor (before adding Wilt). Two scorers don’t = a championship, not even close.
Anthony had two goals: play in New York, and sign the biggest extension he could get (three years, $65 million). His leverage was that if he wasn’t traded from Denver, he could have opted out of his current contract and left Denver with nothing. But if he wanted that extension so much, he could not come to the Knicks as a free agent. He could only sign that extension with the team he was under contract to at the time. Otherwise he would have had to opt out of his contract, and he would have had to sign a new one. Any new contract would have been subject to the next collective bargainin agreement since free agents can’t agree to deals with new teams until July, which is after the current agreement expires. He was obviously not willing to wait and give up a bunch of money.
The Clippers have reportedly agreed to trade Baron Davis and their first-round draft pick this year to Cleveland for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon.
As far as the DWill deal, considering his blow-ups with Sloan, and displeasure with the situation in Utah, the Jazz may have figured that was all they could get for him. So, not the better end of the deal, but making the best of a situation that had the potential of being Melo 2.0. Now, if the NBA cuts down FA mobility in this next CBA, Utah may look rather foolish. But I thought it looked like DWill was going to leave anyway, regardless of Sloan staying or anything else.
Really came in though to link to this article discussing the Knick trade, specifically their love for Landry Fields, the current 2 on the Knicks. They do need another wide-body, and it’s too bad they could never get Randolph to play to his perceived potential. As a Houston fan, I say, join the club in wanting a 5.
I did watch most of the Knicks game last night (beats watching the Bulls lose to the Raptors). The excitement was cool, but it was also true that Carmelo Anthony is where the ball goes to die. He had 27 points on 10-for-25 shooting and one assist. Billups didn’t shoot well, but he had a strong game with 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
The Williams deal actually seems fair too me, Utah is taking a chance with Favors but it is a gamble that might pay off. A few years from now we might think it was Utah who got the better end of that deal.
I don’t think anyone is handing them the trophy just yet. I think Knicks fans are just glad not to be a total laughingstock.
Eh. They already weren’t a laughingstock this year; they were a mediocre team for the first time in a while. The question is if the Anthony-Stoudemire combination can help them attract another marquee player (in which case they might be set up to challenge Miami and Chicago and Boston) or if they broke up a set of pieces that could have meshed well in favor of star power.
Another surprise trade: Boston deals Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City for Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic. Nate Robinson may also be part of the deal. Elsewhere Houston was supposedly considering a deal that would bring them Marcus Camby, maybe for Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks. The Bulls were said to be interested in trading for Courtney Lee.
Some reported deals:
The Celtics have traded Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to OKC for Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic.
The Grizzlies have traded O.J. Mayo to the Pacers for Josh McRoberts and a 1st round pick.
The Rockets have traded Aaron Brooks to Phoenix for Goran Dragic and a lottery protected 1st rounder.
The Rockets have shipped Shane Battier to Memphis for Hasheem Thabeet and a 1st round pick.
OKC landed Nazr Muhammad for a couple players that I missed.
Nothing for the Bulls, especially with Mayo moving. Maybe Houston will keep the fire sale going and send Courtney Lee to the Bulls, but Houston no longer needs a Center and without Brooks Lee becomes less expendable.
No move for Nash.
Update: Looks like that Mayo deal might have fallen through.
Yeah, I think the Mayo trade wound up not happening. The Bulls (and Heat and maybe the Celtics) will probably be active after some players get bought out. The Perkins trade confuses me, but I’m taking it as good news for the Bulls. The other reported trade is Gerald Wallace going to Portland for Pryzbilla and a draft pick.
Well, as one of those NYK fans, I want to agree with you, but there are a lot of people out there pointing out that they still were barely above .500, and a knee injury to Amare away from falling right back into the lottery. After so many years of suckitude, I couldn’t really deny that.
Not on paper, but in practice, they still do. Thabeet is just friggin awful. Brad Miller, as you well know, is not very good anymore. And I still think Yao retires either at the end of this year or next.
These trades smell like an attempt by Morey to show that he at least did something this season. Maybe: if you get him to Big Man Camp; get him back to his first year’s production, bad as that was; boost his confidence…Maybe??? I have my doubts. I think Greg Oden will make it to super-stardom before Thabeet does.
Aaron Brooks needed a serious change of scenery—surprised the Rox got that much for him. Losing Smith as filler hurts a lot, as Lee has nowhere near the handles for the 1, (assist/TO ratio closer to 1 than 2) and Smith does.
Would have loved Camby, and I’ve wanted him here for the last two years. I just don’t think he would’ve come and subjected himself to this. He also doesn’t fit in with a youth movement. I guess Gerald Wallace is nearing washed up status—which is really surprising for me. That’s the only way I can explain why the Rox didn’t make much of an offer for him. I have no explanation for why they didn’t offer a lot more to try and get Perkins from the Celts.
The Rockets have needed to make a 4 for 1 or a 5 for 2 trade since before the beginning of the season. They still haven’t done so. It’s just very disappointing.