I was against Carmelo Anthony coming to the Knicks from day one. From DAY ONE. Ask any of my friends or family and they’ll tell you the same thing. As a scorer? Fine. As a guy who can carry a College team to a national championship? Fine. As a tough, hard nosed, leader on both sides of the floor in the NBA? Never. Not once. Never gonna happen. Don’t get me wrong. Carmelo Anthony is a great ballplayer but never has he once been a franchise player. 28 a game isn’t getting you a championship if you’re not playing D or making other players better. It’s that simple.
If Anthony were the #2 option on the Knicks this would have been fine, but they haven’t had a franchise guy since Patrick Ewing. Can Porzingis turn into that guy? Jury is still out because frankly the guy is 7’3 and dudes that tall have a hard time not getting badly injured. That talent is certainly there but it’s tough to say how much more muscle he can put on and not damage his feet or knees at some point.
Anyway, Phil Jackson finally said as close to a goodbye as we’ll hear from him. Phil Jackson on Carmelo Anthony today: “We have not able to win with him on the court. He would be a player better off somewhere else.”
In that one sentence he just summed up Melo’s entire New York (and Denver) career. Frankly if I’m another team I bring in Anthony and tell him straight up, “you’re coming off the bench to score us points. That’s it. You don’t have to play D, don’t worry about it. Just score when we need you to.” He’ll be a good watered down James Harden (really watered down).
He’d be nice fit on a really strong team that pretty much doesn’t need him.
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