Happy New Year! I hope everyone is excited for the Pacers game tomorrow; I know I am. For now, though, we can hold ourselves over with internet readables, such as Gian's hoppin' column from earlier today. Thank God, too, because weekends prove to be dismal opportunities to comb the web for insight (I spend hours a day reading about professional basketball, so weekends upset me).
This column is not insight, however. It's simply the third self-generated fake trade scenario in this series, which helps us all to keep busy and hopefully generates more discussion amongst our rapidly growing community. This episode has the Knicks trading a very, very young man for two relatively elderly gentlemen.
Jump for a trade most of you will probably hate!
(Disclaimer, for the third time: I will not think of any trade scenarios for Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Michael Jordan, Pete Maravich or any other superstar. I simply have no interest in it. Having said that, let's chat.)
Knicks Receive
Anthony Carter (Final year, about $900,000): 35 years old; Point Guard; about 7.00 PER
Melvin Ely (Final year, about $900,000): 32 years old; Center; about about 10.00 PER
Nuggets Receive
Anthony Randolph (Three years, final is qualifying offer, about $3 million per): 21 years old; Power Forward; about 7.00 PER
Go ahead, boo me. Truth be told, I'm not even 100% sure this is a quality trade for the Knicks. Funny thing is, I'm also not sure this is a quality trade for the Nuggets! So, when you add those two facts together, you get what amounts to at least an intriguing trade.
What drives the trade is basically the fear of God within the Nuggets organization that Melo is gone after this year. Couple that assumption with the age of Kenyon Martin and the general lack of upside of Shelden Williams and you get a perfectly justifiable reason for Denver to trade for Randolph. I could see Randolph learning the game from the man they call "Bird" and becoming a serviceable player. They have not consistently played either Ely or Carter much this year, Ely because of their frontcourt depth and Carter because of one Ty Lawson, so they're basically playing with house money.
The Knicks' thinking is also pretty obvious; get a back-up point guard and a back-up center. Ely, who has never been the most talented guy, has played in the league long enough to know where to be on the floor for the (maximum) 10 minutes a night he would play. Carter is the real gem of this trade, however, with some sneaky gaudy statistics throughout his career; last year, for example, he beat out the likes of Steve Nash and Chris Paul to come in second place in percentage of possessions used which end in an assist. First place was Jason Kidd. Anthony Carter cannot shoot the ball for shit and he's 35 years old, but I have seen him play a few times in the past couple of seasons, and he is not at all a slow player. According to the Hollinger fellow, he's still a solid defender, so it's not as though my eyes deceive me. Additionally, he is a very low-mistake player, rarely turning the ball over.
Both Ely and Carter have expiring contracts.
The reasons for this trade not to happen are multiple. First of all, Carter has a no-trade clause in his contract and he's probably had a home in Denver for several years. Second of all, Anthony Randolph's trade value is not exactly through the roof right now. Third of all, the Nuggets are looking at making the playoffs this year, barring any trades (LOL!), so giving up depth for a headcase may not be too high up on their "To do" list. Fourth of all, they have players they want to get rid of in the event of a trade, such as JR Smith, and this does not accomplish that feat. Fifth of all, Knicks brass may not be pumped about getting two players who combine in age to sum 67 years old. And on and on.
The fact remains, though; this trade would probably benefit both teams. Randolph still has the chance to be special, considering his age, and the tandem of Ely and Carter would net another big body for the Knicks' front court and a fantastic back-up point guard to spell Ray Felton and allow Toney Douglas to just fucking relax and score off the bench. The only reason I would consider Carter available is because of the Nuggets' supreme point guard 1-2 punch of Billups and Lawson.
Depth
Point Guards: Felton, Carter
Wings: Fields, Douglas, Gallinari, Williams, Chandler, Walker
Bigs: Stoudemire, Turiaf, Ely, Mozgov
What say you all?
Remember these trades are all for fun, guys & girls, and that Anthony Randolph has gone through a couple of coaches who haven't really played him at all. There might be something they know that we don't. Also, subjectively I would not make this trade if I were Donnie Walsh. I think Randolph is too young and has too much athleticism to get rid of for rentals. I'm simply posing this trade as a way to generate discussion, and as a way to combat a trend that has reared its head on this blog in recent weeks. The trend is to overvalue every player on the Knicks and propose trades that are simply insane. Bill Walker & Andy Rautins for OJ Mayo? Kelenna Azubuike for Marc Gasol? Even though these exact trades haven't been proposed, others within that range have. Let's come down to earth, guys. Having said that, please suggest any trades that come to mind! It's very fun talking about them all, no matter how dumb they are (this one included).
Also: Please, please don't talk about Carmelo Anthony in the comments. Please.