The crazy NBA offseason continues on and in a surprise move over the weekend, Carmelo Anthony was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a draft pick. This move was expected to happen but Melo’s landing spot was a big question mark. The Rockets, Caveliers and Trail Blazers were considered to be the real contenders to pull off a trade, but out of nowhere the deal gets done with OKC.
This now means that OKC is a legit title contender with their new big 3 of Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. Before you immediately dismiss them as being a contender, think about the others that fill up their roster. Steven Adams is a defensive and rebounding force at center, Andre Roberson being a lock down defender at the forward position and veterans such as Kyle Singler, Nick Collison and Jerami Grant providing leadership coming off the bench.
The Knicks also come away as winners in this deal. When I say they’re a winner, I really mean they’re going to lose… a lot. In today’s NBA, you have to be either an elite team or a team that is tanking. If you are stuck in the middle, you couldn’t ask for a worse position. So by trading Melo, they can now tank and hand the keys of the team to Kristaps Porzingis. Another positive in this trade is shedding Carmelo’s contract, which at 26 million isn’t a max deal but is damn close to one. They will now have more flexibility to make a move. The last two positives are if the Knicks actually improve at the 5 spot with Kanter and if they can get anything out of a once promising lottery pick in McDermott — if they can, this trade might look favorable in the future.
Like I said, the NBA off-season has been crazy, lets just hope the season can live up to the high expectations the offseason has given us.
Office Chatter 