Knicks Get Melo: Did they give up too much?

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes...medium=twitter

Quoting a liberal to make your point? You are convinced.

I'm not a Knick fan, but if I were, I'd be ambivalent on the deal. Carmelo is a tremendous talent and he/Amare will be the second-best one-two punch in the NBA. But there really isn't much beyond that on the team now. Billups is on the way down, Fields is a roleplayer and Shawne Williams and Turiaf are one-trick ponies. I can't even name any other players on the team.

In order for this trade to be a long-term positive rather than another Isiah-esque shortsighted headline grab, the Knicks will have to continue to be ultra-aggressive in free agency. People may think this means grabbing Chris Paul or Deron Williams, which may indeed happen, but they also need to amass some reliable MLE-type guys this offseason to make it more than a two-man team.

In the end, I think as long as D'Antoni is the coach, this team isn't winning a championship. He's an offensive genius, but his laissez-faire attitude towards defense just isn't conducive to the type of basketball that gets to and wins NBA Finals. I can't recall a team winning a championship in the NBA by playing 120-115 shootouts every game.