Trading for a Scorer Doesn’t Always Work
A midseason trade of an chosen scorer (at 24 points per game) in the prime of his career (age 26 or younger), most similar to Carmelo Anthony would be?
Bob McAdoo.
McAdoo's tenure in Buffalo ended in 1976 when the team, unwilling to pay him a market value contract and fearful of losing him for nothing when he became a free agent, dealt him to the New York Knicks. The Buffalo Braves center-forward averaged 28.2 was barely 2 months past his 25th birthday when he joined the Knicks. McAdoo, a NBA MVP — joined a Knicks group which was 11-13 underneath Hall of Fame coach Red Holtzman. Guards Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe were in their early 30s. Yet post-trade, a Knicks hardly improved—finishing 40-42 and failed to make the playoffs.
McAdoo received unwarranted criticism when the Knicks--a hodgepodge collection of players haphazardly thrown together - failed to recapture past glory. While McAdoo remained a prolific scorer (26 ppg), his poor defense drew the groans of the Garden faithful. New York gave up a league-worst average of 114 points to opponents in McAdoo’s a single full Knicks season.
McAdoo's time as a Knick tends to be overlooked, but during this period he averaged 26.7 ppg--which still ranks first in franchise history--and became the youngest player in NBA history to score 10,000 career points (Kobe Bryant broke this record in 2002-03). McAdoo struggled to mesh with the other high-scoring All-Star forward, Spencer Haywood.
Fast forward to 2011.
Carmelo Anthony brings an identical 25 point average, along with a vulnerability on defense.
The Knicks sent McAdoo to the Boston Celtics during the 1977-78 season for three 1979 first-round draft choices and a player to be named later.