Who got the best deal?

[Supergirl]

Anthony finally gets his way, and gets out of Denver. The Knicks make their big splash and finally get a second superstar to play with Amare. Too bad now they have two ballhogging defensively deficient superstars and very little bench, but that should be able to get them into the playoffs at least. Denver got some superb young talent to build around in Felton, Gallinari, and Chandler.

So, who got the best deal?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AvpHUNPHeqa5HeSNC1usTS68vLYF?slug=mc-anthonyknicks022111

[Giuseppe]

Felton is caca. Gallinari is caca.

Chandler is a ?.

Anthony has to evolve all over again. He ain't gonna like that, at all.

[fyatuk]

How it works out for New York depends on what happens over the summer and into next season. They obviously made themselves worse this year, but if they can get a distributer that can manage to keep both melo and stat fed, they can be a 7sol beast for years to come.

[tlongII]

Anthony finally gets his way, and gets out of Denver. The Knicks make their big splash and finally get a second superstar to play with Amare. Too bad now they have two ballhogging defensively deficient superstars and very little bench, but that should be able to get them into the playoffs at least. Denver got some superb young talent to build around in Felton, Gallinari, and Chandler.

So, who got the best deal?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AvpHUNPHeqa5HeSNC1usTS68vLYF?slug=mc-anthonyknicks022111

Well I guess we know what you think... :lol

[Sportcamper]

Melo checked out before the season started…Instead of getting nothing for him the Nuggets got 3 starters, cash, & draft picks…This is a no brainer…Nice recovery Denver…:tu

[buttsR4rebounding]

This deal has Isiah Thomas written all over it...

[cheguevara]

LOL Niets

[ohmwrecker]

The Knicks have Melo and Amare . . .

[Supergirl]

Yeah, I don't understand why NY did this deal --- they were looking really strong this season, surprising me because I think Amare is generally overrated. But Felton and Amare have had them as one of the surprises in the East. Now, I think they're going to tumble to the bottom and get bounced out of the playoffs or the first round. If they can secure a quality PG in the next year or two, maybe this trade makes sense, but they've just limited their financial options for the next 3 years...and how long before Amare and Carmelo start complaining and turning on each other?

[Bill_Brasky]

Yeah, I don't understand why NY did this deal --- they were looking really strong this season, surprising me because I think Amare is generally overrated. But Felton and Amare have had them as one of the surprises in the East. Now, I think they're going to tumble to the bottom and get bounced out of the playoffs or the first round. If they can secure a quality PG in the next year or two, maybe this trade makes sense, but they've just limited their financial options for the next 3 years...and how long before Amare and Carmelo start complaining and turning on each other?

Um...don't know if you've seen the standings lately but NY was not doing that well....barely above .500 and teams were really starting to figure them out/people other than Amare were starting to cool off. Good move for them to mix it up, they won't contend this year but they will do well in years to come if they get a coach who knows what defense is and get the right role players.

Denver didn't make out that bad either...got what they could for Melo and managed to mix it up, sucks they had to give up Chauncey though. Let's see if their FO handles the draft picks intelligently or if they just draft more JR Smiths.....

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Denver definitely got the better deal, once you look at the situation. They went from possibly getting Favors, Harris, and 4+ first rounders, to being left with nothing and possibly seeing Anthony walk in the summer for nothing. At that point they were the laughing stock of the league. They were in no position to call the shots on this trade discussion, yet they were able to pull off getting three starters and a pick, and make New York go back and put in Mozgov too. Huge recovery for them.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

I've been going back and forth on it all morning in my head and I think I give a marginal edge to the Knicks. They get a guy who can put asses in seats going to a place where he wanted to be, so they should be able to get a happy, motivated Melo to ease Amare's burden and Billups could be a short term upgrade over Felton.

Ultimately what tipped the scales towards Knicks over Nuggets is history. Every time I started looking at the Nuggets side of things I realized it was all "potential this" and "potential that" and I think every time I've talked about the Nuggets for the last five years the word "potential" is always a part of it and for the most part it's been unrealized. Going forward I think the Knicks probably make a step up to the second tier of Eastern teams like Orlando while the Nuggets probably stay put in the 6-8 seed range.

[Obstructed_View]

Felton is caca. Gallinari is caca.

Wrong and wrong. Chandler is a question mark, but he's a young, improving question mark. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Nuggets get better after this trade. If George Karl can get JR Smith out of town they might be able to make a dent in the playoffs.

[silverblk mystix]

I think it ends up a wash...

because of Billups...he will have Melo & Amare playing up to their potential...kinda like he did when he first arrived @ Denver...but I don't know how much gas in the tank billups has left.

[coyotes_geek]

The knicks got the best deal, but Denver did a good job of playing the crappy hand that Melo dealt them.

[Obstructed_View]

I've been going back and forth on it all morning in my head and I think I give a marginal edge to the Knicks. They get a guy who can put asses in seats going to a place where he wanted to be, so they should be able to get a happy, motivated Melo to ease Amare's burden and Billups could be a short term upgrade over Felton.

Ultimately what tipped the scales towards Knicks over Nuggets is history. Every time I started looking at the Nuggets side of things I realized it was all "potential this" and "potential that" and I think every time I've talked about the Nuggets for the last five years the word "potential" is always a part of it and for the most part it's been unrealized. Going forward I think the Knicks probably make a step up to the second tier of Eastern teams like Orlando while the Nuggets probably stay put in the 6-8 seed range.

Excellent points. The only place that Billups is an upgrade over Felton is with the one coach who thinks that pull-up three with 18 seconds on the shot clock is a good bet.

Do the Knicks have a ticket sales problem that Carmelo would fix? I thought "Knicks basketball is BACK" once they were over .500.

The Nuggets have mixed "potential" with talented guys with no leadership and no team concept whatsoever and then asked George Karl to make them work, which they actually have off and on despite themselves. They basically traded away their "not enough basketballs" problem to New York, and that could really improve them. Billups provided good leadership for a short time until he lost interest. If there's an adult on that roster that can step into the leadership void and get them playing, there's no telling what they can do.

[rascal]

Yeah, I don't understand why NY did this deal --- they were looking really strong this season, surprising me because I think Amare is generally overrated. But Felton and Amare have had them as one of the surprises in the East. Now, I think they're going to tumble to the bottom and get bounced out of the playoffs or the first round. If they can secure a quality PG in the next year or two, maybe this trade makes sense, but they've just limited their financial options for the next 3 years...and how long before Amare and Carmelo start complaining and turning on each other?

The Knicks were barely over a .500 team that was going no where.
Anthony gives them another star and Billups is still got another year or two. They still need to add to their bench and get a better starting center but they now have a strong foundation with two top stars in the league Anthony and Amare.

[Kai]

Knicks got a superstar, Nuggets lost a superstar. Until Denver can parlay their assets into a player to build around, they will suffer the same fate as the Rockets. Knicks did better by default.

[Muser]

People really overrate Mozgov, he will be an average player at best, known for having Blake Griffins nuts down his throat.

[bostonguy]

Unless Gallo turns into a superstar (Doubt it) then the nuggets didn't really make out like bandits. This is still a superstar league (Melo was the closest thing Denver had in that). They better hope they can lure someone in free agency or get a lottery pick. Right now they just have a bunch of role players. That isn't much to build on. None of those guys will be superstars. I doubt Denver even makes the playoffs this year. Even if they do, they will be bounced in 4-5 games.

As for the Knicks, we will see in 1-2 years how they build around these 2 stars. They will also need a better coach.


At the moment, the Knicks got the better deal because they have 2 stars compared to 0 stars on the Nuggets. We will see what happened a year or 2 from now to really see who got the best end.

[JamStone]

Knicks. They got the best player in the deal, and he was the best player by far. People are giving Denver credit because they had no leverage to get anything at all but still got something, and they should get credit. But that doesn't mean they get the better end of the deal. Knicks still win the deal. They just look stupid because they shouldn't have given as much as they did. I don't think we'll ever know, but the Knicks really must have felt there was a tangible threat that Melo was frustrated enough with the situation that he might approve the Nets deal and sign an extension there.

[Obstructed_View]

It's looking more and more like Carmelo wasn't going to leave guaranteed money on the table with the collective bargaining agreement up in the air for next year. He's been staring down the Nuggets, and the Nuggets were staring down the Knicks. Melo almost certainly told that he would blink if they didn't first.

The Nuggets, when they were playing well, were pretty good. Most of the time, they were a dysfunctional team. They gave up a shitload of talent, and probably didn't get equivalent talent back, but there's some addition by subtraction there.

[Darkwaters]

wrong and wrong. Chandler is a question mark, but he's a young, improving question mark. I wouldn't be surprised to see the nuggets get better after this trade. if george karl can get jr smith out of town they might be able to make a dent in the playoffs.

+1

[Juan]

I bet that nigga melo would have ended up signing an extension with denver if they just kept his ass. too much money to give up. real talk

[JamStone]

I bet that nigga melo would have ended up signing an extension with denver if they just kept his ass. too much money to give up. real talk

I don't buy that. Melo has already made roughly $75 million in salary over his NBA career. With endorsements, he's made well over $100 million, probably over $125 million. Even if the next CBA reduces what he could make, you're probably talking Melo losing $10 million by not signing an extension. Even if it's $20+ million he loses by not signing now, you're talking about a really small fraction of what he'll end up making over his career. Melo will end up making well over $200 million in salary and endorsement money. While $10 million is still a huge amount of money, especially to most of us, I don't think it's at all certain it would be the determining factor if he and just as importantly his wife really wanted to go to New York.

[JamStone]

they already got billups to distribute, a center who can protect the rim is a much bigger need for them to fill imho

Billups should be fine. He's not an explosive playmaker, but a lot of his decision making will make up for it. His three point shooting will help both Melo and Amare in terms of spacing and giving them room to make one-on-one moves. Plus, in D'Antoni's style of play, Billups won't have to worry much about expending energy defensively. His composure and free throw shooting at the end of games is a plus, at least for this season.

I think they'd want to target you (Tyson Chandler) this summer but it's probably unrealistic because I think Mark Cuban will try to keep you and the Knicks probably would rather try to maneuver cap space for 2012 CP3 or Deron Williams. But I wonder if Samuel Dalembert might be a good fit for the Knicks for the next few years if he will accept a smaller salary now that he's over 30 and got his big contract already.

[coyotes_geek]

they already got billups to distribute, a center who can protect the rim is a much bigger need for them to fill imho

http://www.sports.fr/images/201040/dantoni.jpg

"You're a funny guy. Now get me Jason Kapono!!!"

[Supergirl]

Unless Gallo turns into a superstar (Doubt it) then the nuggets didn't really make out like bandits. This is still a superstar league (Melo was the closest thing Denver had in that). They better hope they can lure someone in free agency or get a lottery pick. Right now they just have a bunch of role players. That isn't much to build on. None of those guys will be superstars. I doubt Denver even makes the playoffs this year. Even if they do, they will be bounced in 4-5 games.

As for the Knicks, we will see in 1-2 years how they build around these 2 stars. They will also need a better coach.


At the moment, the Knicks got the better deal because they have 2 stars compared to 0 stars on the Nuggets. We will see what happened a year or 2 from now to really see who got the best end.

the thing is, that Amare and Melo together could ONLY work in a D'Antoni system because they're both so averse to playing defense. But that is also the reason that Amare and Melo will get the Knicks into the first round of the playoffs at best.

[Obstructed_View]

I don't buy that. Melo has already made roughly $75 million in salary over his NBA career. With endorsements, he's made well over $100 million, probably over $125 million. Even if the next CBA reduces what he could make, you're probably talking Melo losing $10 million by not signing an extension. Even if it's $20+ million he loses by not signing now, you're talking about a really small fraction of what he'll end up making over his career. Melo will end up making well over $200 million in salary and endorsement money. While $10 million is still a huge amount of money, especially to most of us, I don't think it's at all certain it would be the determining factor if he and just as importantly his wife really wanted to go to New York.

Guaranteed money > uncertainty. Even if he were the kind of guy who got endorsements, could Tim Duncan have made up the money he lost out on with the last CBA?