The Knicks were mismanaged into irrelevance for the better part of eight years and Donnie Walsh was brought in to clean up the mess. Mr Walsh spent 2 years making trades with the sole purpose of clearing cap room, which he did expertly. The Knicks were not at all competitive for 2 years but had enough cap room for two max contracts, one of which was surely intended for Lebron. Walsh even overpaid for Amar'e in hopes of attracting James but Lebron did not have the balls to play in NYC and made the "decision" to be a wus and play with Wade and Bosh in Miami. No matter how successful the Heat are, I will always view Lebron as gutless.
Needing more talent than Amar'e could provide to defeat the Heat and having cap space to fill, the Knicks looked for another star. In his walk year and a impending work stoppage on the horizon, Carmelo Anthony campaigned for a trade to the Knicks. Against Donnie Walsh advice the Knicks traded away all of the teams financial flexibility and at least 3 NBA starters for Anthony. The move was almost unanimously applauded by NBA media experts, who claimed Anthony has one of the leagues top 5 players.
I admit 'Melo has never had trouble scoring but I saw a fat,lazy,selfish player that shoots entirely too many shots to achieve his average...And i wont even bring up defense.He forced the trade so he could secure a top dollar pay day before the new NBA collective bargaining agreement was to be negotiated and little to do with his desire to "come home" to New York. Selfish...as usual.
I dreamed of the Knicks being serious championship contenders with Amar'e and some other all star player, maybe Paul or D Will playing pg, possibly Howard playing center and Galo hitting 3's with regularity. Instead the Knicks have gone 1-8 in the playoffs with Carmelo leading the way to mediocrity, a far cry from championship contention. The problem has not been Anthony alone though. Amar'e can not stay on the court, breaking down on lay up lines, losing fights with fire extinguishers and apparently tearing up his knees getting out of bed.
If I take into consideration the health of Amar'e, he has been as useless as the ' in his name and the state of some of the other players I would have liked on the Knicks...NY would not be better off than they are today. Chris Paul has been excellent but to whom would he pass on the Anthonyless Knicks? D Will is a chubby coach killer. Howard is an outright mess and who has looked more selfish than he the last 18 months? Gallinari has developed nicely but is currently seriously injured. Any combination of those players does not paint a pretty picture for an NBA team in 2013.
I do not expect a knick championship any time soon and I don't even think the Knicks can get to the conference finals this year. If I am honest, I admit Carmelo provides us the best chance to win a round or 2 in this years playoffs. He is playing the best defense of his career, which isn't difficult to believe but he is at least trying. I am a Knick fan and Carmelo is one of us, it is time I give him his due. It is not Anthony's fault the Knicks are not one of the 2 teams that can win a championship this year, it's not a Knick problem nor a Carmelo problem but it is a NBA problem.
