Trading Melo: A Radical Approach

The Knicks are spiraling back towards the failure of the 8-15 start as a result of offensive stagnation, pitiful help defense and horrific coaching decisions.

The center of the failures seems to be the inability of the Knicks offense to move the ball via the pass when Carmelo Anthony is in the game.  The Iso for Anthony on the wing has brought failure, brutal shots and booing crowds during the latest 2-5 stretch since Carmelo’s return.  Melo is shooting 40.8% from the field during the stretch. 

Beyond the offensive incompetence, the defense has brought boos and high criticism from analysts across the board.  This has all occurred since Carmelo Anthony returned from injury.  He is a poor defender, a ball hog – albeit a talented one – and he simply doesn’t win games!

So what to do?  Coach ‘em up is not the answer because Coach Mike is a defensive liabilty himself and designed the Iso offense. 

…

Trade Carmelo?  What? Are you nuts? 

Wait, hold up, is Dwight Howard in the deal? 

Yes, he is…But, he is not coming to the Knicks. 

Ok, stop yelling at the screen, here is the idea:

I’ve included the ESPN Trade Machine screenshot because it lays the deal out nicely and proves that it works under the cap.

The Knicks get Jason Terry and Shawn Marion from the Mavs and suffer the rough contract of Hedo that the Magic would love to get off the books.  The Knicks lose Carmelo, the recently benched Landry Fields and J.R. Smith’s expiring contract in the deal.

This works well for the Knicks.  First,they remove their issue, Carmelo, but manage to replace his scoring.  Additionally, the Knicks will lose J.R. Smith, who has been good in his short stay but is clearly not a deal stopper, and Landry Fields, who seems to play much worse when Anthony is in the lineup.

The Knicks get a prolific scorer in Terry and an elite defender in Marion in this deal.  Taking on Hedo’s contract is part of the cost of doing business – although he does have some talent left in his old tank. 

The biggest piece of this deal is Marion – he completely changes the defensive personality of the team.  He immediately becomes the guy who can defend the Pierce/LeBron/Deng crowd – Melo could not guard Pierce if Paul put his headband in front of his eyes. 

Terry could maintain his 6^th man spot or slide into the shooting guard spot in the starting lineup.  Having 2 dominiant defenders (Marion and Chandler) along with Lin, Terry and Amare would create a really strong lineup. 

Does this deal make sense for everyone else?

I think the answer is a resounding yes.  The Magic give up Howard in the deal which is obviously a major short term loss, but the Magic need to come to the realization that he is not signing in Orlando.  If they can get a relatively cheap replacement at center in Haywood and a scorer like Anthony, albeit with all his flaws, for the next few years, while also getting Hedo’s bad contract off the books – I think they would say Yes to the deal.

Lastly, the Mavs.  Why trade 3 critical pieces – Haywood, Marion and Terry?? 1 reason, HOWARD!!! Cuban wants him so bad he’d give up anyone not named Dirk for the guy.  This deal would need to involve Howard extending with the Mavs long-term, but I think that could be worked out as Dallas is on Dwight’s short-list.

This deal is crazy.  All the Carmelo commercials on MSG Network would end.  All of the “I’m coming Home…” crap would end.  The Carmelo era would be a huge bust.  But, defense and movement on offense are needed for the Knicks to actually compete for a championship.  All the excitement at MSG is now gone – the exhuberance of the fans is gone and the frustrated phone calls to local radio stations are in full force.  For all of Carmelo Anthony’s talents, he is a lazy defender and a ball hog, trading him would bring the magic back to the Garden.