NBA Trade Grades: Knicks send Carmelo Anthony to Thunder

Oklahoma City Thunder

Before the trade went down, our Executive of the Year Award predictions for 2017-18 had Thunder GM Sam Presti at No. 2, trailing only the Golden State Warriors’ Bob Myers. Thanks to this trade, we might need to rethink those rankings.

It’s been a stellar summer for Presti, who turned Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis into Paul George, drafted Terrance Ferguson, signed Patrick Patterson to a bargain deal, added Raymond Felton as backup point guard and now swiped Carmelo Anthony aboard for the meager price of Kanter, McDermott and a second round pick.

Those assets were all expendable. Even with Kanter providing a nice scoring punch off the bench, Billy Donovan was unable to trust him when the playoffs rolled around because of his defense. McDermott, meanwhile, only put up 6.6 points in 19.5 minutes per game while shooting 36.2 percent from deep in his 22 appearances for the Thunder last year.

He isn’t what he once was, but even if Hoodie Melo isn’t the version of Carmelo Anthony that OKC is getting, people shouldn’t forget that he just averaged 22.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season. He shot a decent 35.9 percent from 3-point range, but with more weapons around him, he should get some quality, wide open looks from deep.

Anthony has averaged at least 20 points per game every single season of his 13-year career, and with Russell Westbrook and Paul George around him, he has a very good chance of continuing that streak at age 33.

Westbrook was a one-man wrecking ball last season, and the reigning MVP now has two dangerous shooters and scorers to make his life easier and spread the floor for him to attack. If Anthony is willing to play the 4 (where he’s been most effective in the later stages of his career), OKC’s starting lineup is positively sick:

Is this team a legitimate threat to the Golden State Warriors in the West? It’s hard to say, since Melo’s defensive flaws may be exposed in a playoff series where perfection is demanded.

But PG-13, Andre Roberson and Patterson can help cover for some of those deficiencies, and he makes the Thunder a very dangerous team. This move, combined with the PG-13 trade, certainly gives Westbrook and George a lot to think about if they both enter free agency next summer.

The only real downside here is the hefty luxury tax bill this will incur.

Sure, there’s a worst-case scenario where Westbrook doesn’t sign his mega-extension, and he, PG-13 and Melo all leave in free agency next summer if this season falls short of expectations. But that’s a risk worth taking for Presti as long as Westbrook hasn’t signed that extension, especially after watching Kevin Durant leave last summer.

When one of the best three players in the world left last summer, it seemed like the Thunder were down and out. One year later, their one-man MVP show has a ton of help around him and OKC is back to legitimate contender status.

A 33-year-old Melo might not quite move the needle up to Golden State’s level, but it certainly gives the Thunder a better chance of advancing in the playoffs and keeping this newly entertaining team intact beyond the upcoming 2017-18 season.

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Grade: A