ANTHONY TRADE LETS KNICKS EYE FUTURE
Carmelo Anthony’s time in New York ran its course. Actually, overstayed its welcome. Both sides absorb blame — the Knicks more than Anthony — but that’s immaterial now.
In a situation that needed resolution, the Knicks found a deal that works for them and for Anthony, who expanded the list of teams to whom he would be traded to include the Oklahoma City Thunder.
With training camps set to begin for most teams this week and Anthony pressing to leave the Knicks, the Knicks found a willing trade partner in the Thunder and general manager Sam Presti, who is pulling out all his front office tricks to make Oklahoma City a contender short term and long term.
To get Anthony, a 10-time AllStar forward, Presti had to give up just Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-round pick.
This summer Presti acquired three-time All-NBA forward Paul George from the Indiana Pacers for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis.
It’s quite a haul for the Thunder, who will trot out 2016-17 MVP Russell Westbrook, George and Anthony. Coincidentally, the Knicks open the season Oct. 19 at Oklahoma City.
Presti is going for it this season, trying to wrest the Western Conference championship from the Golden State Warriors. The ever-improving West just got even better.
Even with large luxury tax bills looming for the Thunder, they will be a contender in the West — if not short on depth, with a starting lineup of Westbrook, George, Anthony, Andre Roberson and Steven Adams.
But Presti is also looking at the big picture. If he wants to retain Westbrook, who can become a free agent after this season, Presti needs to ensure him the Thunder can be competitive for the next several years. The Thunder need to persuade Anthony or George, if not both, to stay beyond 2017-18.
Remember before the Cleveland Cavaliers traded for Kevin Love? It was all but a done deal that Love would end up on either coast, with the Lakers or Knicks. Well, that didn’t happen. He enjoyed the success with Cleveland and re-signed.
Will the Thunder be successful enough to keep Westbrook, Anthony and George after this season? That’s the gamble Presti had to take. Without getting Anthony and George, he knew he had little chance of keeping Westbrook. A chance is all Presti wants.
The Thunder also view this as a continuation of what they’ve done the last decade: be aggressive and put a competitive, if not elite, team on the court.
The Thunder see themselves as an organization committed to winning. They have one of the NBA’s top records (461-343) over the last 10 seasons.
Even after losing Kevin Durant to the Warriors in free agency last summer, Oklahoma City won 47 games and made the playoffs.
If the Thunder are able to keep their stars, they could set themselves up for nearly 15 seasons of sustained success.
Anthony leaves the Knicks with uneven results. They made the playoffs three times with him, including a 54-28 record and Eastern Conference semifinals appearance in 2012-13. But New York never reached the conference finals and had four coaches and one interim coach in Anthony’s seven seasons with the team.
The Knicks have had four consecutive losing seasons, three of them under Phil Jackson’s unproductive run as president. Jackson alienated Anthony as the team tried to go into rebuild mode. Though Anthony enjoyed living and playing in New York, he also realized his time with the Knicks was over.
The best path forward for the Knicks and new general manager Scott Perry didn’t include Anthony. The Knicks get Anthony’s $27.9 million contract for 2018-19 off the books, though that still doesn’t give them much salary cap space next summer.
The Knicks would not have been a playoff team with Anthony, and they will be one of the worst teams in the East without him — which isn’t horrible if they can turn that into a quality lottery pick in the 2018 draft.
This trade allows the Knicks to build around Kristaps Porzingis, Willy Hernangomez, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Frank Ntilikina without Anthony’s status being a daily topic.