This is only my second column for the Orient, but already I'm selling out. Surprising that it took this long—maybe my friends were right about me. Regardless, at the end of the day when I was thinking of a topic to write about, this one was just far too big for me to overlook.
If you thought that somehow the New York Knickerbockers were going to try and ride Amare Stoudemire and Raymond Felton into the playoffs this spring while the New Jersey Nets welcomed in prized gem Carmelo Anthony, then you, my friends, thought wrong.
I won't knock you for it because there was a time when it looked like the Nets would, in fact, be the ones to land the coveted power forward. However, it's hard to imagine that after losing in this past summer's LeBron sweepstakes, the Knicks were going to lose another opportunity to lock up one of the league's top scorers.
While it cost them an arm and a leg, the move truly creates some serious buzz in New York—almost as big as Stephen Bayer '12 on a Saturday night at Bowdoin—but let us not get ahead of ourselves here. The move makes Madison Square Garden, the game's biggest stage, home to two big teams—the other, of course, is the Red Storm of St. Johns, who seem to be knocking off top-10 teams every weekend in college hoops.
A quick digression, if you will. Throughout this whole process I couldn't help but think of one thing: Anthony, while he is a stud, is just as bad as LeBron James and the other ego-heads of the NBA in that they love drama and attention. I have a hunch that this long drawn-out process was inspired a little bit by Carmelo seeing all of the hype that LeBron got and figuring that he wanted his fair share of the limelight. Anthony wanted to be a Knick the whole time, but he also wanted his tires to be constantly pumped by every ESPN anchor. Just the classic case of trying to have your cake and eat it too.
On paper, the big winners are obviously New York and Amare Stoudemire. The big man has vocally expressed his desire to acquire Anthony. With him, they have the potential to be a very successful and electric one-two punch, similar to what Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are in Oklahoma City. Both are top 10 scorers in the league, and combined with their big play ability and playoff experience, make for the best combo in the Big Apple since lamb and tuna fish.
However, the part of the deal that I really like is the swap of young point guard Raymond Felton for the wily veteran Chauncy "Mr. Big Shot" Billups. I say this because, while Felton has a lot of upside, Billups is a proven winner. He was with the Detroit Pistons when they won the title in 2004 and he was in Denver when he made them a playoff contender in 2008. He has never hogged the spotlight; rather, he just brings it every day and wins. He provides the Knicks with a true quarterback of the offense, great vision, and the ability to hit a shot when the game is on the line (hence the nickname). Also, you know that he is a great leader and locker room presence because George Karl, head coach of the Denver Nuggets, voiced that he was sad to see Chauncey—and not necessarily Carmelo—go.
The move is certainly churning the wheels of the good ole bandwagon for Knicks fans these days, as it should. Let's face it, without Carmelo they're a just-barely-above-.500 team, as their record indicates. However, even with Carmelo and Billups, I still don't think that the Knicks have enough this year to make a deep run into the playoffs.
I wouldn't pick them over the Celtics, Heat, Bulls or Magic. Not now, at least.
Think about it. The Knicks have two huge stars, but relatively little depth on the bench. Their starting center is going to be Ronny Turiaf, whose backups were Eddy Curry and Timofey Mozgov, both of whom are now gone. They are also weak at the power forward position, with Amare Stoudemire's only quality backup being the "suitcase" of the NBA Sheldon Williams (yikes). Down the stretch you need to have a quality bench—just look at the Lakers and Celtics.
Right now I just don't see that with the Knicks. I realistically see them as the No. 5 seed going into the Eastern Conference playoffs, with the slight chance of passing Orlando during the last few weeks to hop up to that No. 4 seed. But that would require them to mesh right away, and with only 28 games remaining in their regular season, that may prove to be a daunting task.
Also, there is the important aspect of defense. Historically, Mike D'Antoni's teams have been bad on defense. His Phoenix Suns teams relied on a run-and-gun style offense to carry them in the playoffs, and his current Knicks are supporting the league's second-worst points allowed with 105.8. Those types of numbers won't win you anything in the postseason.
Any movement past the first round of the playoffs would be gravy for the New York Knicks, especially because they have been plagued from the playoffs every year since the 2000-2001 season. Ultimately, this move is just another piece in the rebuilding puzzle. By adding Anthony and Billups, it gives them the ability to win now, but it also allows them the option to possibly pursue Chris Paul when he becomes a free agent a year from now. Wouldn't that be scary?
The Knicks are much better off with the trade, particularly going forward. Anthony's gifted perimeter play and ability to draw double teams has the potential to bring life back into the Garden that it hasn't seen since the '90s, when Latrell Sprewell was snappin' necks and cashin' checks (quite literally).
To be honest, I'm pretty pumped to see 'Melo in a Knicks jersey. What would really top it off is if he grows his cornrows back and just drops 30 a night in front of a packed house. Then it would feel like I'm back in 2003 watching the Syracuse freshman Anthony shred defenders in the Big East Tournament. How soon will this happen? We'll just have to see.