khandor’s sports blog

If the New York Knicks were indeed forced to include each of the following assets in their just-completed trade for Carmelo Anthony:

1. Raymond Felton/PG;
2. Danilo Gallinari/SF-PF;
3. Wilson Chandler/OG-SF;
4. Timofey Mozgov/C;
5. Anthony Randolph/SF-PF [sent to Minnesota];
6. Eddy Curry/C [sent to Minnesota];
7. 1 Future 1st Round Draft Pick [2014]; and,
8. 2 Future 2nd Round Draft Picks [obtained from Golden State in exchange for David Lee last summer]; 

then, it was certainly a hefty price to pay for the “opportunity” to field the following line-up the remainder of this season:

STARTERS
1 Chauncey Billups, PG
2 Landry Fields, OG
3 Carmelo Anthony, SF
4 Ronny Turiaf, PF
5 Amare Stoudemire, C

BACK-UPS
6 Tony Douglas, PG
7 Andy Rautins, PG-OG
8 Roger Mason, PG-OG
9 Kelenna Azubuike, OG-SF
10 Bill Walker, OG-SF
11 Shawne Williams, SF-PF
12 Renaldo Blackman, PF
13 Shelden Williams, PF

and “the possibility” of adding a player like Chris Paul, as well, somewhere down-the-road.

If Denver and Minnesota do actually decide to keep each of the players obtained by their respective teams in this reported transaction:

KNICKS, NUGGETS AND TIMBERWOLVES ROSTERS, AFTER COMPLETING BLOCKBUSTER TRADE INVOLVING CARMELO ANTHONY
No.	Pos	NEW YORK	Pos	DENVER	Pos	MINNESOTA
STARTERS
1	PG	Billups	PG	Felton	PG	Flynn
2	OG	Fields	OG	Afflalo	OG	Johnson
3	SF	Anthony	SF	Gallinari	SF	Beasley
4	PF	Turiaf	PF	Martin	PF	Love
5	C	Stoudemire	C	Nene	C	Milicic
KEY SUBS
6	PG	Douglas	PG	Lawson	PG	Ridnour
7	OG	Walker	OG	Smith	OG	Ellington
8	SF	Williams/Sha	SF	Chandler	SF	Webster
9	PF	Balkman	PF	Harrington	PF	Randolph
10	PF	Williams/She	C	Andersen	C	Pekovic
RESERVES
11	PG	Mason	SF	Brewer	PG	Telfair
12	PG	Rautins	C	Mozgov	C	Koufos
EXTRAS/OUTS
13	OG	Azubuike	PG	Carter	SF	Hayward
14			SF	Forbes	PF	Tolliver
15			C	Ely	C	Curry
OTHERS
16			2014	1ST Rd Draft Pick	PG	Rubio-?
17			?	2nd Rd Draft Pick
18			?	2nd Rd Draft Pick

then, it may well be the case that:

1. New York has obtained the best player involved in these trades, but may still have failed to appreciably advance their franchise, in pursuit of winning a League Championship;

2. Denver may have obtained as close to “fair value”, as possible, in exchange for their disgruntled former “star” player who did not wish to sign a contract extension with their team;

and,

3. Minnesota may have made out like bandits, by acquiring 2 solid assets for their franchise, in exchange for only 1 ”spare part” on their current roster.

Time will tell if this transaction actually marks the end of Donnie Walsh’s tenure with the Knicks or, if it ushers in an era of renewed long term prosperity for the once-proud franchise, under the continued direction of its aging native son. 

Tags: Anthony Randolph, Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Danilo Gallinari, Donnie Walsh, Eddy Curry, Isiah Thomas, James Dolan, Raymond Felton, Renaldo Balkman, Shelden Williams, Timofey Mozgov, Wilson Chandler

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 at 2:14 am and is filed under Basketball, NBA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.