If the Knicks take a step back this season, they could lose their franchise player. Photo Credit: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule
The 2012-13 season for the New York Knicks was a huge step forward for a franchise that went through about as dark a period as any in professional sports from 2000-12. Carmelo Anthony was an MVP candidate, the Knicks won the Atlantic Division for the first time since Michael Jordan was a minor-league baseball player, J.R. Smith did a fantastic John Starks impersonation and was able to win the Sixth Man of the Year award and the team exorcised some demons by knocking off the Boston Celtics in the first round of the postseason; their first playoff series win since 1999. Between the excitement surrounding New York’s City’s favorite team and the arrival of a more than capable nemesis across the Brooklyn Bridge, the Knickerbockers did their part in helping to revitalize basketball all over the city and the buzz was palpable. But with the top half of the Eastern Conference assembling powerhouse teams in what is becoming quite the arms race, the Knicks may be in danger of taking a step back; one that might cost them their franchise player.
Carmelo Anthony was otherworldly in his second full season at Madison Square Garden, winning a scoring title and finishing third in the league MVP vote. But watching Anthony’s supporting cast wilt on the game’s biggest stage against a middling Indiana Pacer roster was eerily reminiscent to watching Patrick Ewing do all he could for a franchise that simply could not find him a viable second option throughout the 1990s. Michael had Scottie Pippen. LeBron James has Dwyane Wade. Kevin Durant has Russell Westbrook. Carmelo Anthony? Making do with J.R. Smith. Smith failed the Knicks when Anthony needed him most and the best the New York front office could do was throw up a Hail Mary and hope Andrea Bargnani can realize his immense potential.
Part of this is Anthony’s doing. Set to become a free-agent in the 2011 offseason, Melo held the Denver Nuggets hostage, trying to force a trade to New York and threatening to walk in the offseason, leaving Denver with nothing. Had Anthony just kept quiet from the beginning and let the process play itself out, the Knicks wouldn’t have had to give up every single asset the franchise had at that point to acquire him; instead signing him outright and adding him to a nice collection of young talent and movable pieces. Could the same package that landed Anthony in New York have been used on another significant player that may have made the Knicks even more formidable? Probably. Instead, Anthony got to Madison Square Garden and was paired with Amar’e Stoudamire and little else.
And so begins the Melodrama 2.0. The Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls have assured an almost certain descent in the standings for New York. So Carmelo Anthony may be set to enter unrestricted free agency in 2014 after a season when the Knicks could not get into to the top half of the conference. A season which will likely see this franchise take a huge step back. Anthony was, of course, born in New York (Brooklyn). He grew up in Baltimore. He played his college ball at Syracuse. By all accounts, this is an East Coast guy. But might a down year in New York make Anthony migrate west?
The Los Angeles Lakers have the cap space in 2014 (Steve Nash will be under contract, that’s it) to add a max player. They have an incredible pedigree that the New York Knicks do not (16 titles). They have Kobe Bryant, who has made it clear he feels he can play at least two more years at a high level and is a player Anthony is fond of. Maybe most importantly, Carmelo Anthony’s wife and kid reside in L.A. The Knicks are stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. They don’t have the assets to improve the roster to a title-contender level and they are still two seasons away from having the cap space and flexibility to retool around Anthony. The Lakers essentially would be offering a fresh start with a blank canvas, a chance to team up with a true superstar in Bryant, a guy who could not only take the pressure off of Anthony as a scorer, but a guy who could provide insight into what it takes to be a champion.
In a sport where loyalty does not exist anymore, Carmelo Anthony will likely choose the best situation for him. The Lakers aren’t close to a title right now, but they have cap space, flexibility and the most desirable location for free agents in the NBA. It’s easy to see how quickly they can assemble a title contender with Carmelo as the centerpiece. The threat of Los Angeles poaching New York’s franchise player is very real. The Knicks will need to stay the course next season. They’ll need to win and win big and show Anthony that with the pieces in place, he can win the title he so desperately covets in New York. If not, Carmelo Anthony may trading in his orange-and-blue digs for some purple-and-gold next offseason.