Sunday, February 13, 2011

Carmelo Anthony to the Lakers? (Please don’t tell me Denver’s management is THIS dumb…)



If you read the report out on February 8th by Chris Broussard of ESPN then you know that the Nuggets and Lakers are having preliminary discussions about a possible deal of Anthony for Andrew Bynum. If this deal happened it would surely be another gift to the Lakers, just like the Pau Gasol trade that went down three years ago.
Bynum is good, but he is certainly not someone to build your franchise around. Over the past five years he has only averaged playing in 56 games a year. He’s just simply too risky to rely on in the long run, much less give up your franchise player for.

If Ujiri does pull of this trade in the next week then he will definitely achieve what few GMs have. He will enter an elite club where GMs trade away their franchise players for other team’s leftover assets. Yes, he will be a proud member of the Chris Wallace club.

Basically he would be giving his franchise player to his team’s biggest rival over the last two years. Did I just hear Avery Johnson say “Merry Christmas LA” again? The GM would be basically telling his team and fans that the Nuggets will no longer be able to compete with the Lakers and that they should simply expect mediocrity from the team for the next few seasons.

You can bet your bottom dollar Greg Popovich will have something to say about that! The fact that this trade is even being discussed at all is unreal, but again here come the Lakers. The moment they hit a bit of adversity they look to make a big trade. They can acquire nearly any elite player they choose and take on the salary because their owner can afford it. Who wouldn’t want to play for Phil and have Kobe, Pau, and Odom as teammates?

But what would happen to the competition in the West? I mean if you put Anthony in a line up with Bryant, Gasol, Fisher and Odom that team is almost guaranteed to go to the NBA finals. And for all those people who say there are not enough shots for Bryant and Anthony together, just look how successful Lebron and Wade are meshing in Miami.

It would be the creation of yet another super team which the media would adore and salivate over, but the fans outside of LA would hate. If this deal really goes down what does that say about the future of the NBA? Are small market teams like the Timberwolves and the Raptors doomed because they don’t have the perfect location for an NBA free agent? Is that what the league has come to?

There must be other deals out there. Some team must have something better than what New York is offering. If he hasn’t already Ujiri needs to get the Nets back on the phone and let them create the terms of the deal for Anthony. If that deal is truly off the table, then they need to start seriously talking to the LA Clippers and try to deal Anthony to the other team that plays its home games at the Staples Center. Imagine the talent they could get from the Clips in exchange for Anthony. The Nuggets could get back an attractive package of Kaman, Foye, and Aminu. The Clippers starting five could easily be Davis, Gordon, Anthony, Griffin, and Jordan. To me that starting lineup can compete with any team in the league. One would think this opportunity would satisfy Melo in terms of location and talent. It would allow Melo to compete against his best friend (Kobe) to see who the real king of LA is.

But it’s really up to Ujiri to bring Denver a deal that will benefit them. So far he hasn’t shown he’s ready for the big time as an NBA GM. After the trade deadline passes we’ll see if this still holds true.

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