Mo Melo

Categorized as: Author: Erik, Author: Nels, Denver Nuggets, Fantasy Basketball, New York Knicks, Trades
Posted on: February 22nd, 2011

Well, Patrick has already done his part for GMTR as far as the actual trade goes, especially since he also analyzed the deal that was all but done with Nets a few months ago. Or maybe it wasn’t even that long ago… Time has seems to stretch as far as Carmelo Anthony trades are concerned…

(Also, it sadly possible to simply Google “Caramello” and come up with naked women (NSFW). Is there no place safe from naked women???? Spoken like the true fantasy nerd and computer geek that I am)

Anyway if you didn’t read Patrick’s post (how dare you!) … here’s the summary of the trade…

To acquire Anthony, the Knicks are sending Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, the Knicks’ 2014 first-round pick, two second-round picks New York acquired from the Golden State Warriors in the David Lee sign-and-trade and $3 million. The Knicks will also trade Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry’s expiring contract to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who will send Corey Brewer to New York. The Knicks will receive Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Renaldo Balkman and Anthony Carter.

And here’s what Erik and I have to contribute to the discussion…

Erik sez:
I’ll only comment on the Knicks as the Nuggets are apparently not yet done wheeling and dealing. Short and sweet, New York overpaid, big time. Is Carmelo Anthony worth the talent of all of those guys put together? No, absolutely not. They gutted their roster and are now, not likely going to remain in playoff contention this season. The Knicks are now probably the worst defensive team in the NBA. We used to call GSW “The Golden Ticket” over here at GMTR, now it’s going to be the Knick Bonanza or something more witty once I come up with it. With whatever Denver does before the deadline finally arrives, they can’t go wrong. They’re already winners because they were able to milk the Knicks for all they were worth.

On the fantasy end, I like Billups for the remainder of the season. We can expect an uptick in his assists while continuing to see throw up his “big shots.” Landry Fields is going to have to step up his offensive contributions, so he’ll be more involved on that end. Amar’e should remain steady at whatever it is he’s been delivering. On to Melo. We’ll really have to see how he and Amar’e operate together. They’re both offensive finishers and each demand X amount of touches. Most analysts have christened this to be a wash as far as his value is concerned. I on the other hand, beg to disagree, a little. There’s one consistent benefit scorers have gotten from working under Mike D’Antoni, and that’s the improvement of their outside shooting. Just look at Z-Bo, Amar’e and even Raymond Felton as examples. With Melo expected to drop points in the high 20’s, more and more of those points will slowly be credited from shots taken from beyond the arc. It’s a logical progression and path to coexisting with competent scorer in the paint like Stoudemire. Melo will be able to bring to you some Durant-lite like lines, obviously with less defensive stats, but scoring, threes, and percentages, boards will come raining down in buckets; if not immediately, they will more evident in 2011-12. NY now has a front court that’s actually thinner than Miami’s. Turiaf, Stoudemire, Williams (Shelden) will not be the prettiest nor the most effective defensively, but is unfortunately all NY has to work with at the moment.

While the Knicks did sacrifice a lot right now, just to secure Anthony, consider this a successful “Phase 2” in their overall plan to assemble an all-star triumvirate (or more) come 2012. They may look ugly on paper now, but the Knicks are also just that more inviting for a third superstar to join forces with Stoudemire and Anthony.

Nels sez:
Yes, the Knicks overpaid. But as Erik points out at the end there, what does everyone think when they get Chris Paul now? Not so bad anymore eh? But, as Patrick said, they probably could have gotten Melo as a free agent for a lot less without trading everyone without an apostroph’e in their name.

That said, look at what they do have left… Billups is taking over for Felton on a team that ups Denver’s pace by 2 possessions per game. Not only that, but he’s now playing with a legit Power Forward who can run screen and rolls like it ain’t even a thang. I also tend to think he’ll get more open shots with Anthony and Stoudemire drawing most of the defense… but that means they’d have to pass to them, and as someone who sits next to a Carmelo Anthony owner every day, let me tell you, the one thing i know about fantasy basketball is that Carmelo Anthony does not pass the ball. His season average of 2.8 assists per game is only beaten by the fact that Amar’e is at 2.7. And these are guys who are playing on teams with 95 and 97 possessions per game respectively. (Just for reference, I checked and Zach “The Black Hole” Randolph averages 1.7 assists, so I guess Carmelo and Amar’e could possibly be less helpful in that category)

I’m going to say I’m quite happy as a Landry Fields owner. There’s nobody in the trade who is going to take away from his 30+ minutes per game, and even though Billups and Melo could actually take on more of the scoring than Felton, Danilo, and Chandler combined, there are still plenty of opportunities for Fields to get his 7 rebounds, and 1 three per game, and he might even be able to up the steals and blocks since there’s not going to be a whole lot of defense coming from anyone else.

As for the Nugs, well, Danilo is 94% owned, so not much doing there… Maybe worth trading for since his scoring opportunities will probably go up, but his owners will probably recognize that and make some sort of unrealistic demand without the statistical evidence to back it up. Arron Afflalo is only owned in 74% of leagues, but that means he probably only available in small leagues and ones that no one is really playing in… But, it’s worth a check in your league to see if he’s available since he gets a boost in upside potential with this trade. The biggest gainer, though, as Patrick pointed out, is Ty Lawson. If the Nuggets do ship out Felton (and I wouldn’t blame them, I still harbor a grudge against Felton for stepping on Chris Duhon’s as he was lying on the floor when he was a Bull), then Lawson is a great pick up. In fact, I already took Patrick’s advice and dropped Luke Ridnour to stash Lawson in one of my leagues. He’s already rostered in two other leagues, so clearly there is a desire for his work out there.

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Tags: Arron Afflalo, Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Danilo Gallinari, Landry Fields, Ty Lawson