Home Carmelone 2: Lost in New York

If you ever started complaining to me about your 126 million dollar contract, my response would go something like "shut the fuck up pussy." But in Carmelo Anthony's case, his extremely valuable contract is one of his biggest obstacles in his quest for his first title.

It's clear that the New York Knicks want to get rid of Carmelo Anthony by the February 23rd NBA trade deadline. However, there are a few different reasons why they can't work out a trade with another team. These reasons are mostly financial, but Carmelo's no trade clause adds another jabstep, uhhh, I mean dimension, do the Knicks' issue.

The biggest reason a deal can't get done is the size and details of Carmelo's contract. Melo signed a 5 year, 124 million dollar contract in 2014, only 5 million dollars less than the maximum. The contract included a no trade clause, giving him the power to veto any trade proposed by Phil Jackson. There's also a 15% trade bonus on his contract, which adds 15 percent of his remaining money owed to the contract. What I'm tryna get at is...the owner of the team who trades for Melo is gonna have to start stripping on the side to pay for all of Carmelo's owed money.

Melo is 33 and declining. Not many teams are willing to give what the Knicks are asking for, but even less teams would do it for a player his age. His rebounding and assist numbers are down from last year, and his defense is especially bad this season. He has the third worst defensive rating out of 85 players who play more than 30 minutes a game, even worse than Isaiah Thomas, who is FIVE-FOOT-NINE!!!!!

If a five-foot-nine is better than a certain player at ANY defensive metric, that should be a red flag for any team that's interested in him.

Now I bet you're asking me, "Jarra, what kind of dumbass team would think to trade anything of value for this man?" But the Golden State Warriors have been forcing teams to pull off desperate moves ever since they brought the horrible hair of Kevin Durant to Oakland.

Honestly, can we take some time to appreciate how bad this shit looks? This man, who has earned over 100 million dollars in his career, wakes up in the morning, looks in the mirror at this absolute MONSTROSITY, and thinks its okay to leave the house like this. Absolutely shameful. 

As I was saying, Carmelo only wants to be traded to a championship contender, which narrows these teams down significantly. Cleveland has been  heavily discussed trade partner with the Knicks, but a deal for Carmelo would likely mean trading away Kevin Love, a talented power forward at the prime of his career. 

Another destination for Melo could be the LA Clippers, with CP3, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan. Doing that would most likely mean parting ways with most likely all 3 of JJ Redick, Raymond Felton, and Austin Rivers (Doc Rivers' son). 

The third most likely trade spot for Melo is Boston, who has plenty of draft picks and available players. But Melo's no-trade clause means that if he doesn't like where he's going, he can strike down the deal like he struck Mardy Collins in the face before running away.

Getting Carmelo doesn't guarantee a championship in the slightest. As long as the Golden State Warriors are healthy, they are the title favorites. But whoever gets Carmelo will have decided that they want to win now, and are trading away their near future for him. Getting him out of New York will be a difficult process, but will be key to starting a possible rebuild of the franchise. Or, the Knicks just don't trade him at all, and wait for the season to end to find a new team for him.

Thanks for reading

-Jarra