Knicks Links: The Clippers lost, so let the Carmelo Anthony trade speculation begin

Good afternoon, P&T! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

I know you’re all just starving for some links, and boy oh boy, I’ve got some tasty ones. Marc Berman and the boys are hungry, and the Clippers losing in the playoffs is like a big, gnarly T-bone steak for these dudes to gnaw on.

The links are plenty and bountiful today, so here’s some long listening material (props to Carmelapplestapz Godzingodthony for reminding me how great this album is, and James Marceda for specifically reminding me of this song):

Pulling up from 3... THE KNICKS BEAT REPORTEEEERRRRSSS

— Alright. So, as the title suggests, almost every single thing here today is going to be about Carmelo Anthony, because the Los Angeles Clippers just lost to the Jazz in the first round and currently employ (and are likely to re-sign) Chris Paul, a good friend of Carmelo Anthony. To get the basics out of the way, for those who are unfamiliar: Carmelo has a no-trade clause, and therefore has the final say on where he gets traded (or if he gets traded at all). Phil Jackson wants to trade Carmelo. Carmelo most likely wants to play with one of his good friends, a group that includes LeBron James and Chris Paul. Some reports have claimed that Melo’s list of destinations that he would OK a trade to would be the Clippers, Cavs and/or Celtics. Most important, the Clippers have absolutely nothing to trade beyond Austin Rivers and a 2021 (possibly 2022!) draft pick.

Now, with that out of the way, here’s Knicks prognosticator GOAT Marc Berman of the NY Post speculating about Carmelo being traded to the Clippers. I say speculating because I couldn’t find any new sourced information in there. Berman does suggest that the Knicks could try to sign-and-trade JJ Redick away from the Clippers as part of a trade. But, with Redick being in his 30’s, I can’t really imagine why there would be interest on either side for that deal.

— Steve Popper of the Bergen Record comes through with a much more restrained Melo-to-Clippers take, not so much speculating about what might be as much as just explaining the situation and motivations of both sides to get a deal done (and also, the difficulties of getting a deal done).

— Frank Isola of the NY Daily News writes his take on the Melo/Clippers situation, but spiced it up by also speculating about Dwyane Wade’s future, as he is part of the Melo/LeBron/Paul/Wade Banana Boat Club.

— Robbie Stratakos of Elite Sports NY writes that the Knicks should avoid any deal for Melo that involves getting back Blake Griffin. Which is unlikely to happen anyway, so whatevs.

— Ian Begley of ESPN writes about how the Knicks could look to spend their free agent money this offseason, and that the club likely won’t have enough to offer anyone a max contract (blessing in disguise?). He also brings up a couple potential free agent targets:

What can $19 million get the Knicks in free agency? That’s unclear at this point.

But it doesn’t seem like enough to lure New Orleans point guard Jrue Holiday or Indiana Pacers point guard Jeff Teague, who some in the organization see as potential free-agent targets, per league sources.

The Knicks would have to move some money off of the books to afford either Holiday or Teague.

— Eric Snyder at HoopsHype writes about four players the Knicks could target in the second round of this year’s draft.

— Lastly, the new 3-on-3 league Big3 held its draft, and a number of former Knicks were involved:

Which team do you think will win the Big3 title? All homerism aside, my money’s actually on Trilogy. I feel like Rashad McCants, Al Harrington and K-Mart are gonna make a nasty 3-on-3 team.