Where will the 2013 scoring champion, Carmelo Anthony, take his talent and three-point celebration this summer?
The Brooklyn born scoring machine, Carmelo Anthony, has the biggest following right now in free agency. It seems like any team that needs that one piece to go over the top wants to get Carmelo in their building to change the complete dynamic of their roster.
Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers and of course the New York Knicks are all top contenders to acquire “Melo” this offseason. Some are long shots compared to others but they all make very valid cases to bring in the former scoring champion to their teams.
Since announcing that he will still opt-out, even after meeting with the Zen Master, Phil Jackson and the new Knicks head Coach Derek fisher, complete with wearing all 5 rings, Carmelo has been the center of many rumors. The Knicks are Melo’s hometown team and he forced his way out of Denver to play for them.
They Knicks gave up Anthony Randolph, Raymond Felton, who managed to sneak back into New York, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov and this years first round lottery pick. All players are contributors and the Knicks and Nuggets had similar success through out the years. The Nuggets acquiring a lot of talent at once while the Knicks went and acquired a few more big names to play alongside Anthony. Obviously the Knicks weren’t banking on this past season to go as badly as it did nor does it seem they scouted this years class too much. Melo gets what he wants once again and is able to leave the Knicks after wanting nothing more than to go to the city that never sleeps.
Miami Heat went down in 5 games to the Spurs in the 2014 NBA finals and there’s already rumors about Carmelo possibly copying LeBron and taking his talents to South Beach. All of the big 4 will have to take a significant pay cut if they want to sign all 4 stars to contracts. One problem with that may be the same issue the Knicks have with Amar’e Stoudemire. Wade is getting older, hurt and his game is obviously being affected by this, Wade just might take his player option to make 10 million more dollars this upcoming season instead of taking a pay cut to help the team. Much like Amare, his game is on the down spin and I couldn’t imagine how either of those players wouldn’t take all the money while they can.
If all goes according to plan like they want in Miami, the Heat could have a team that includes Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. 4 of the top 5 picks from the 2003 NBA draft which may be possibly the best draft in the last 20 years could be on one starting line-up. At that point, you have to call Darko Milicic to make it all top 5 picks, just throw him a bone.
Just imagine if the Detroit Pistons in 2003 took Carmelo or Chris Bosh. We might be having a completely different NBA today. That story is for another day though.
Chicago Bulls seem to be the other team that makes sense, but it will take a little bit of shifting of some pieces and maybe a little hometown discount from Taj Gibson to make this all work according to the Bulls plans that are being reported.
Chicago is trying to make their own super team except the team they want to form seems to make the most sense, if all goes according to plan.
Chicago, hard on their luck the last 2 seasons with the injury of the ever-cautious Derrick Rose, is looking to make a splash this off-season. All reports indicate that the first cause to action is acquiring Kevin Love from Minnesota. This would require a lot of wheeling and dealing from the windy city front office. Carlos Boozer either would need to be traded or amnestied to move his contract off the books.
Boozer hasn’t performed the best for Chicago over his tenure with the Bulls and it just makes sense to let him go. The next issue with acquiring Kevin Love is the Bulls potentially having to give up Tony Snell with Boozer and a piece like Mike Dunleavy or Jimmer Fredette and maybe even Taj Gibson if he doesn’t take a pay cut along with some draft picks to make the trade worth while for Minnesota.
Let’s say Kevin Love goes to Chicago, the next step is bringing in Melo.
Carmelo Anthony says he wants to win. Partner up Melo with a solidified big man and possibly the best center in the league in Joakim Noah, who doesn’t need to score the ball at all to be effective. Alongside Noah would be Kevin Love who can rebound to score, play tough on screen and rolls and even step out to shoot a long shot creates a whole new scoring dynamic for this team. Don’t forget the former MVP who is slated to return this season, Derrick Rose. Before his injury, Rose was the best point guard in the league, the most athletic point guard to ever grace the NBA hardwood and a man who had little words but could score with the best of them and completely take games over. Can’t forget the great perimeter defender in Jimmy Butler. Talk about a team, Rose, Butler, Melo, Love, Noah, a starting lineup that could possibly dominate for years to come.
The Lakers, Rockets and Mavericks all have similar situations. They have an established star (or 2) who needs that one piece to get over the top. Solid veterans that could be used as contract casualties, young players that could be great trade pieces and A LOT of money. Money is always good. Melo to any of these teams could also make sense, although longer shots then the Bulls, Knicks or Heat, all of these teams have viable arguments to bring the former Syracuse Orange star to their team. Just take a minute to think about Melo and Kobe, what about Harden, Melo and Dwight, and you can even imagine how Dirk and Melo would look as well.
The Clippers and Warriors have the longest odds as they would have a lot of contracts and players to move around, but they do have the pieces to possibly acquire Melo with a sign and trade. Melo with Stephen Curry and David Lee could excite the bay area for years while Los Angeles would be an all Clipper city if the starting lineup included Chris Paul, Melo, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
The moral of all this “MeloDrama” is that whoever acquires the talents of the 2013 Scoring champion, 7 time NBA all-star, 6 time all-NBA team member and 2 time gold medalist might change the entire complexion of the NBA. At least until the next crop of free agents contracts are set to expire. 2015 with Rajon Rondo, Tony Parker, LaMarcus Aldridge, Goran Dragic, Marc Gasol and Al Jefferson looks like a promising year to spark up this conversation all over again.
