NBA: Overblown Melo-Drama in New York

The Knicks are just 7-9 since the arrival of Carmelo Anthony but now is not the time to panic. Al Dannity says the move should pay off in the long run.

Remember last year
The pieces New York traded in order to bring Carmelo Anthony to New York weren’t highly valued commodities last summer. Mike D’Antoni did a remarkable job following the addition of Amar’e Stoudemire of getting more out of the rest of the Knicks’ roster. Quite simply, Denver wouldn’t have let Melo go if this situation had played out a year earlier. New York increased the value of their existing assets before making the move. That’s how you get better in the NBA, by putting yourself in a position to add better players to your roster.

Raising the standard
For all the improvements made by the Knicks this season, there was always going to be a ceiling to the potential of the existing roster. In order to take that leap forward from a playoff team into becoming a championship contender, New York needed to add game-changing talents. In Melo, and to a lesser extent Chauncey Billups, they have done just that. It’s easy to point at the run the Nuggets have put together since Melo left but NBA betting fans have to ask themselves one question: do you think the Nuggets are a better team without Carmelo Anthony?

The transition post-trade was always going to be easier for Denver as the arrival of new talent didn’t radically disrupt the Nuggets starting line-up. The good run has come against a relatively soft schedule and I can’t see Denver making it past the first round in the West.

Time to develop
New York most likely won’t make it out of the first round either but that’s okay, for now. The transition from a team built around Stoudemire to one where both he and Melo have key roles will take time. Once the Knicks’ season ends, most likely late April, the challenge will be to make the two stars and Billups find a chemistry to be ready for next season. Right now neither is willing to defer enough to the other in offensive situations. This is the reverse of the problem Miami had when LeBron James and Dwayne Wade were overly focussed on sharing the ball early in the season.

The Knicks will need to adjust the rest of the team to help with the transition. The supporting parts in the roster must be restructured to play to the strengths of the core members of the franchise. Stoudemire has bought into D’Antoni’s offense for over eight years, since his days in Phoenix, but this is new territory for Melo. With time the two stars will learn to work together and then the Knicks will be back on course towards becoming contenders.

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