Perhaps more than anything else, the 2010-11 NBA season was dominated by the trade rumors surrounding Carmelo Anthony, and the New York Knicks’ efforts to bring the Brooklyn native home.
The said union was all anybody could talk about, and affected Anthony and the NBA for months, as documented on his wife’s reality show, “La La’s Full Court Life.”
The rumors were of course sparked by the wedding toast that was once considered humorous, in which Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Chris Paul expressed their desires to join forces to play with one another at The World’s Most Famous Arena.
With Stoudemire already in town, the Knicks, as everyone knows, gave up the farm (for better or for worse), trading away just about all assets to reel in Anthony to the Big Apple. With two down, and only one (Paul) to go, it appeared as though that wedding toast fantasy would become a reality, at the expense of similar trade rumors, this time, dominating the upcoming lockout-shortened instead.
With the NBA season scheduled to begin on Christmas Day, the question was becoming when (not if) Paul would eventually join the Knicks. But all of that quickly changed on Thursday, a day before free agency begins and players report for training camp.
The reality of the situation is that no matter how burning his desire to play in New York may actually be, the Knicks simply do not have the assets to make the appropriate competitive trade offer, and furthermore, would be unlikely to be able to offer CP3 a maximum contract come this summer, when he is scheduled to hit the free agency market.
Whether Knicks came to terms with this harsh reality before or after the rumors surrounding a completed trade (one that was, but never quite will be) to send Paul to the Lakers began to swirl is unknown. What is for certain, however, is how quickly they have seemed to execute their “plan B.”
According to Yahoo! Sports, the Knicks swooped in to push the Warriors aside and dazzle newly crowned NBA champion Tyson Chandler with a four-year deal, worth $58 million, one that he reportedly intends to sign Friday.
Not much else is better than acquiring a four-time all-star like Paul, but Chandler just might be the better fit for the Knicks. Easily the best defender the team will have had since Patrick Ewing, perhaps the ever so intimidating big man will usher in a new era of defensive greatness and intensity along with him on his way to New York.
That is, of course, what Chandler provided the Dallas Mavericks with last season, en route to an NBA title. Chandler’s physical play propelled the Mavs past the Heat in the Finals. His presence even prompted veterans like Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, and Jason Kidd to credit him with “changing the culture” in Dallas. Apparently he changed it enough so to earn a championship ring.
One would think Chandler’s great season and value to his team would entice the big-spending Mark Cuban and the Mavericks to grant Chandler his payday, but that isn’t the case. In order to preserve cap room for future more substantial free agent classes (as well as maintain enough space to eventually find a replacement for the aging Nowitzki), Dallas will actually let him walk.
We need both! Since we can't have both,I'd take Chandler for the middle and try to keep Billups because we have no money for Paul.Billups has another year on contract.I think we can work with him for one more year with Chandler in the middle, Anthony and Stoudemire.
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