The shocking news came early yesterday as large-market NBA fans can officially begin salivating over the thought of Melo "taking his talents" to a team near them. And while Anthony certainly isn't the most sought-after free agent this summer, (see James, LeBron) his likely relocation will have a profound ripple effect on the 2015 NBA Championship landscape.
Rewind 15 months: the Knicks won 54 games and a playoff series before being eliminated by the (then) red-hot Indiana Pacers; who subsequently showed their chops by pushing Miami to 7 games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite the second round exit, the season felt like a success; the Knicks boasted the league's 3rd best ORtg (a metric used to rate offensive performance by calculating points per 100 possessions), and Carmelo ousted Kevin Durant to win the scoring title.
In retrospect, however, the 2012-2013 campaign was a mere bright spot in an organization otherwise lingering under persistently dark clouds. James Dolan is arguably the most incompetent owner in all of sports; perhaps highlighted by his 2003 hiring of Isiah Thomas as General Manager and Director of Basketball Operations. What a disaster that was. The Honorable Mention was signing Larry Brown, a proven winner at every level of hoops, to a 5 year $50 million deal in 2004-2005. After only one losing season, Dolan fired Brown and payed him $18 million for the buyout. So Brown walked away with $28 million for one year of coaching. The list goes on and on.
In Dolan's defense, even the shrewdest NBA owners are sometimes (yet infrequently) hamstrung by bad contracts. One way to put it: I'm unsure which of the following has less flexibility-- my 62 year old Father the morning after a 30 minute elliptical machine workout, or the Knick's financial situation. New York is $25 million over the salary cap. They can't win with their current roster, and they have no financial flexibility or draft picks to address that issue (they have no picks in the 2014 draft).
If I've lost you because I wrote 5 paragraphs about a team that finished 9th in the lowly Eastern Conference, I understand. But I promise we are done with the Knicks. Sources have indicated that Melo's top suitors are Dallas, Miami, Houston and Chicago Let's project each starting line-up and see what kind of splash Anthony would make on each roster.
Jose Calderon
Monte Ellis
Carmelo Anthony
Dirk Nowitzki
Samuel Dalembert
Because Cuban is a fiscally responsible owner and Dirk is a boss for taking a pay-cut to allowe management financial flexibility, the Mavs can make a run at Anthony's services. The range and accuracy in that line-up would be ludicrous though; Dirk, Calderon, and Melo are all snipers. Throw in Monte's streakiness and that team would pour in jumpers with regularity. The problem, however, is that Calderon and Nowitzki are both defensive liabilities. And Melo's arrival would land Swiss Army Knife defender Shawn Marion a spot on the bench. The Mavericks run beautiful, pass-heavy offensive action mirroring that of the Spurs, albeit with less talent. Carmelo is also the Number 1 "ball stopper" in the league; so finding a niche in that system for his volume of shots is concerning. Simply put: If I'm a Mavs fan, I'd prefer them go in another direction.
Miami
Mario Chalmers
Dwyane Wade
Carmelo Anthony
LeBron James
Chris Bosh
The only way Miami is in play here is if either a) Wade & Bosh take pay-cuts or b) Bosh gets traded AND c) LeBron stays (which I fully expect). Even then, I'm not wild about it. It would *work* because LeBron is ridiculously good at basketball, but it isn't great. I'd rather see Miami trade Bosh, who has pretty good value on the market, and get some younger players to help the best player in the world. After all, signing Melo wouldn't really address why the Heat lost; they lacked the only thing that gave the Spurs problems, rim protection. I just don't see it.
Houston
Patrick Beverley
James Harden
Carmelo Anthony
Terrance Jones
Dwight Howard
It's probably my second favorite option of the four. There are 3 players (Harden, Melo and Dwight-ish) who can score with fair consistency in isolation situations; most teams are lucky to have one of those caliber players. My qualm is that while I called Melo the Number 1 Ball Stopper in the league, James Harden checks in at Number 2. Recall during the HOU/POR first round playoff series that Houston would literally alternate between isolating Harden and Howard for 6-8 minute stretches. That isn't the brand of basketball that wins hardware, in my humble opinion. If Kevin McHale and company could harness the exceptional amount of offensive talent this roster could possess, the Rockets could be contenders in the loaded Western Conference.
Chicago
Derrick Rose (fingers crossed)
Jimmy Butler
Carmelo Anthony
Taj Gibson
Joakim Noah
This is my favorite, by far. It's (fairly) safe to assume Chicago will Amensty Clause Boozer's contract to free up space for Anthony. You could definitely talk me into a small-ball line-up with Melo at power forward. Throw in a pesky defender like Kirk Hinrich for Gibson and this team matches up with most teams, and can put the ball in the hoop (something the Bulls struggled mightily with this year). Tom Thibodeau is a premier defensive coach in the NBA; and I think the team defense in Chicago is good enough to absorb the addition of Carmelo, a fairly pedestrian defender. DJ Augustin had a nice post season, maybe 2nd year wing Tony Snell makes a mini-leap? Joakim Noah's leadership is too strong to allow feather ruffling on this potentially legitimate contender.
Whoever wins the Melo Sweepstakes will gain one of the three most versatile scorers (no, not players. Scorers.) in the NBA. Whoever whiffs on Melo will likely need an ego repair, and head start towards the second-tier free agents; the likes of Pau Gasol, Marcin Gortat or Luol Deng. The recruitment period has begun.
