Before I write the rest of this, I want to make this very clear. I usually, and I mean 99% of the time, do not agree with Stephen A. Smith on sports topics. For whatever reason, his takes are usually a little radical for me. And maybe I’m just saying this because it’s been such a long time since the Knicks were relevant, but I firmly believe that even with just this trade, and a big man pickup (Earl Barron or another warm body for rebounds and fouls) the Knicks can be a top 3 or 4 team in the eastern conference by the time the playoffs roll around – this year.
To combine Carmelo and Amar’e on one team is to combine two top 5 offensive talents in basketball. LeBron and Durant are the only two players you can really put ahead of them. The only devil’s advocate argument is Wade. I think Amar’e is more difficult to matchup with mainly because of the unique challenge he presents power forwards with his range. Shooting guards are a lot more comfortable with having to guard Wade in the 15-18 foot range, not a lot of power forwards can challenge Amar’e on his jumper for fear that he’ll blow by them for an easy basket and possibly a foul.
Melo is just a more efficient scorer than Wade period. Carmelo is demonstrably better free throw shooter than Wade, and over his career a much better 3 point shooter. Wade’s most effective getting his points slashing to the basket for easy layups, and he can occasionally get hot from mid range. Melo can get it from everywhere, he’s not the athlete Wade is but he’s got a much better post game and expends less energy getting his points. I also look at their ceilings. Their best months in terms of shooting percentage are December for Wade (54/40/74) where he averaged 27.9 points per game, and Carmelo’s currently blistering February (53/46/87) where he’s averaging 31 points per game.
Now, to address the losses. What the Knicks really lost was manpower. Chandler, Gallinari, Felton. They were all nice pieces, the most difficult to replace of which I still believe to be Felton because he had meshed in D’Antoni’s system so well ,and had developed a good chemistry with Amar’e. As I previously discussed, Chandler was a very hot and cold athlete who still hadn’t figured out the most efficient way to tap into his potential (driving to the basket).
I was not as upset about giving up Gallinari as most. He has shown flashes this year of getting to the basket more and taking advantage of his outstanding free throw shooting, but I truthfully don’t think his ceiling is much further up. He can be a nice spot up shooter for a good team, but nothing more, and his presence on the court took away as much on defense as it yielded on offense. His athleticism will always limit him, and I don’t think he can shoot or rebound at the level Dirk does because A) he’s just not as talented, and B) the fact that he was out for almost a full year with a back injury concerns me greatly.
Although I think Billups is a downgrade from Felton over the course of a full season, and a step slower, I’ll live with it. The Knicks do need to find a serviceable back up point guard for the rest of the season, simply because Billups is not capable of playing the minutes that Felton did. However, it was and now really is a foregone conclusion from most Knicks fans that this team will be making the playoffs. And for that time of the year, assuming both are healthy, would you rather have a 34 year old Chauncey Billups or a 26 year old Raymond Felton? I’ll take Billups every time, and last year’s playoffs provide evidence. Both guys lost in the first round with their respective teams last year but Billups averaged 9 more points and 1.5 more assists while shooting at a higher clip from the floor and the line. And in their worst games, Billups went for 17 and 11 assists in 37 minutes in a loss to the Jazz, and Felton went for 4 and 4 in a loss to the Magic. I know it’s different offensive systems, but very simply, the big players come to play in the big games, and Felton almost completely disappeared for two playoff games, while Billups’ worst outing was a bad shooting night and still a double double.
What really interests me in this deal is what the Knicks got back. I’ll say what everybody has been saying all day: getting Corey Brewer from Minnesota is a steal. Timberwolves fans, as bad as their team is, are very sad to see him go. He’s long, and had a nice year last year before regressing somewhat this year, but he gives the Knicks something they’ve been lacking. Solid off the bench defense. Everything I’m seeing on Timberwolves’ blogs say that this is a guy that works his ass off on defense and can provide some athletic fireworks and rebounding on offense.
With this roster, there’s a good chance he’s our best on ball defender. Like I said about Fields in my last post, Melo is a gifted scorer but his ceiling on defense is effective. Wouldn’t you rather not have Melo wasting his energy on the defensive end keeping up with Paul Pierce or LeBron, and focus more on what he’s great at? The same goes for Renaldo Balkman to a lesser extent. Rebounding, defense, and length giving the Knicks the ability to rest their two stars on the defensive end against most teams for stretches.
Now think, who are you afraid of in the playoffs with this team? Team by team. Atlanta has never scared me, and never will, Orlando presents a problem with Howard in the middle, Chicago relies a little to heavily on Rose for my liking, and I’ll take the Knicks at 3 of the 5 positions. Boston and Miami are both better teams who I would take in series over this team, but the 1-1a punch that we have can put a scare in them if they’re on, something the Knicks couldn’t say yesterday. Pick up Earl Barron for some depth inside (don’t discount him; 11 and 11 in April last year including a 17 and 18 gem against Boston) and you now have a team with two world class scorers, and role players more suited to our strengthening our weak areas instead of fortifying our strengths. If we get the Heat, Celtics, or Magic in the first round, maybe we get bounced after getting a game or two, or maybe we pull off something big. But if we get anybody else? That’s a win, and with a little momentum for two unbelievable scorers, who knows.
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