Crazy⑧s
Evacuee
The paradox of acquiring Carmelo Anthony for the Knicks is that he plays a position where they have a surplus. Additionally, wing scorers of his caliber are luxuries more than necessities in Mike D'Antoni's system.
I'm not sure if the Knicks' players realize this in such a cogent way, but at least according to what they are saying publicly, they feel like they are good enough already on a personnel level.
"I don't want to change anything," said Raymond Felton adamantly and impatiently when asked about the Anthony trade rumors.
While the Knicks are plenty good enough to reach the playoffs, a big step forward since they haven't played posteason basketball since the 03-04 season, they are not nearly good enough to be considered an elite team.
That was clear on Sunday when they were defeated 109-87 by the Lakers, even if the game was closer than the final score indicated and were down just five at halftime and a third quarter buzzer beater by Shannon Brown killed any fourth quarter chance.
With D'Antoni as your head coach, the real value has always been his ability to facilitate overachievers amidst his stars at point guard and power forward/center.
This was the formula with Phoenix when he had Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire, with Shawn Marion, Raja Bell, Quentin Richardson and Boris Diaw being the complementary pieces at various times.
Now with the Knicks, it is Stoudemire again and Raymond Felton at point guard this time. The supporting pieces are a little bit different in composition, but Wilson Chandler, Landry Fields and Danilo Gallinari have had their talents maximized this season.
Fields was certainly overlooked in an egregious way in the draft, but there is little reason to believe he would have been the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month in both November and December with any other team. First of all, he wouldn't have received better than 30 minutes per game and he more importantly wouldn't have been used this effectively.
Though position isn't a major issue in D'Antoni's system, I asked Fields before the Lakers game what position he would prefer to play long term.
"It really depends on what system I'm in," said Fields. "Right now, I'm playing shooting guard and I hope to continue to develop at that position. That's where I see myself right now."
Chandler has been shooting much better from three-point territory this season, hitting at a 38.2% clip compared to just 26.7% in 09-10. Perhaps more importantly, Chandler has had to create far less of his own offense because of the Felton/Stoudemire impact. He is therefore converting at a much higher clip.
Gallinari has more natural talent than either Fields or Chandler, but he seems like the least logical fit in the long run. While he creates mismatches, those mismatches are flipped and he is several years away from rebounding and defending bigs the way his height should allow him to.
The biggest need for the Knicks continues to be a defensively gifted center. You can almost make an argument that the Knicks would improve by a greater margin by signing Kendrick Perkins in the offseason rather than Anthony since they are both unrestricted free agents. Perkins isn't a typical D'Antoni player, but his defensive abilities are extraordinary and completely underrated. Andrew Bynum completely dominated New York in the interior on Sunday, while Fields limited Kobe Bryant to a 10-for-28 night.
Nevertheless, Anthony is a truly unique scorer and those types of players who can create their own offense in the halfcourt are as valuable as they come.
This is why the Knicks are not in an Anthony or bust mode and will not further mortgage the talent they have to acquire him right now. But with that said, there is legitimate value in giving something up to get one extra playoff run with Anthony. The value Anthony would bring to the Knicks wouldn't equal Derrick Favors (and a large cache of picks) if they even had him.
Read more: http://www.realgm.com/src_feature_p...ve_a_carmelo_or_bust_mentality/#ixzz1BI5hW67V
I'm not sure if the Knicks' players realize this in such a cogent way, but at least according to what they are saying publicly, they feel like they are good enough already on a personnel level.
"I don't want to change anything," said Raymond Felton adamantly and impatiently when asked about the Anthony trade rumors.
While the Knicks are plenty good enough to reach the playoffs, a big step forward since they haven't played posteason basketball since the 03-04 season, they are not nearly good enough to be considered an elite team.
That was clear on Sunday when they were defeated 109-87 by the Lakers, even if the game was closer than the final score indicated and were down just five at halftime and a third quarter buzzer beater by Shannon Brown killed any fourth quarter chance.
With D'Antoni as your head coach, the real value has always been his ability to facilitate overachievers amidst his stars at point guard and power forward/center.
This was the formula with Phoenix when he had Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire, with Shawn Marion, Raja Bell, Quentin Richardson and Boris Diaw being the complementary pieces at various times.
Now with the Knicks, it is Stoudemire again and Raymond Felton at point guard this time. The supporting pieces are a little bit different in composition, but Wilson Chandler, Landry Fields and Danilo Gallinari have had their talents maximized this season.
Fields was certainly overlooked in an egregious way in the draft, but there is little reason to believe he would have been the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month in both November and December with any other team. First of all, he wouldn't have received better than 30 minutes per game and he more importantly wouldn't have been used this effectively.
Though position isn't a major issue in D'Antoni's system, I asked Fields before the Lakers game what position he would prefer to play long term.
"It really depends on what system I'm in," said Fields. "Right now, I'm playing shooting guard and I hope to continue to develop at that position. That's where I see myself right now."
Chandler has been shooting much better from three-point territory this season, hitting at a 38.2% clip compared to just 26.7% in 09-10. Perhaps more importantly, Chandler has had to create far less of his own offense because of the Felton/Stoudemire impact. He is therefore converting at a much higher clip.
Gallinari has more natural talent than either Fields or Chandler, but he seems like the least logical fit in the long run. While he creates mismatches, those mismatches are flipped and he is several years away from rebounding and defending bigs the way his height should allow him to.
The biggest need for the Knicks continues to be a defensively gifted center. You can almost make an argument that the Knicks would improve by a greater margin by signing Kendrick Perkins in the offseason rather than Anthony since they are both unrestricted free agents. Perkins isn't a typical D'Antoni player, but his defensive abilities are extraordinary and completely underrated. Andrew Bynum completely dominated New York in the interior on Sunday, while Fields limited Kobe Bryant to a 10-for-28 night.
Nevertheless, Anthony is a truly unique scorer and those types of players who can create their own offense in the halfcourt are as valuable as they come.
This is why the Knicks are not in an Anthony or bust mode and will not further mortgage the talent they have to acquire him right now. But with that said, there is legitimate value in giving something up to get one extra playoff run with Anthony. The value Anthony would bring to the Knicks wouldn't equal Derrick Favors (and a large cache of picks) if they even had him.
Read more: http://www.realgm.com/src_feature_p...ve_a_carmelo_or_bust_mentality/#ixzz1BI5hW67V
