Melo to Madison Square

Yawn. If I'm the Knicks brass (which may or may not include Isaiah Thomas right now, so I'd like to think my opinion at least carries some value over theirs), why give up your starting point guard (Raymond Felton), starting small forward (Danilo Gallinari), and a key sub (Wilson Chandler) to get Carmelo Anthony right now when you could have gotten him this summer without giving anything up? The Knicks still aren't a championship caliber team, they aren't getting past the Celtics/Heat/Bulls, but they weren't getting past any of those teams as previously constituted anyways. Sure, Chauncey Billups comes over in the deal too, and while he might be an upgrade over Felton right now, is he still going to be there by the time these Knicks might be able to contend for a championship? He's 34 now, and while the successes of Ray Allen and Steve Nash beyond that age may cause us to look the other way, the bottom line is that Allen and Nash are the exception to the rule. Billups could still be productive for a few more years; history tells us it's extremely unlikely.

Moving forward, the Knickerbockers currently sit at 28-26, 6th in the East. Maybe they catch Atlanta at number 5. Beyond that? This season I really don't see it. We're seeing with the Heat right now that a lack of depth doesn't necessarily show up in the record, but make no mistake, Melo/Amar'e/Billups isn't LeBron/Wade/Bosh. So basically, the Knicks plan here has left themselves as Heat Light. And since the Celts are 3-0 against Heat Heavys, this is nothing I'm losing sleep over. We're still the team to beat in the East.

It's too bad Denver couldn't work out that deal with the Nets that would have landed them 4 1st round picks, Devin Harris, and Derrick Favors. That trade proposal had Herschel Walker written all over it.

And lastly, how hilarious is it that one of the throw-ins in the deal going from Denver to New York is Renaldo Balkman? If you don't know who Balkman is, that's very understandable. But he was the Knicks 1st round pick in 2006 during the height of the Isaiah Ineptitude, a move that was lauded as one of his very worst at the time and like the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, has just looked even more laughable with age. So if that aspect of the deal isn't a sign Isaiah is back with a vengeance, than I don't know what is.