Trade grades for New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder Carmelo Anthony deal - NBA
by Kevin Pelton on 2017-09-11 02:04:00 UTC (original: http://insider.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/20793198/trade-grades-new-york-knicks-oklahoma-city-thunder-carmelo-anthony-deal-nba)The deal
Thunder get: Forward Carmelo Anthony
Knicks get: Center Enes Kanter, forward Doug McDermott and Chicago's 2018 second-round pick
Oklahoma City Thunder: A
Within the last three months, the Thunder have gone from one extreme to another in terms of their shot creation around star Russell Westbrook. Having already acquired Paul George from the Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City will now add Anthony, giving them two players whose usage rates were dramatically higher than that of any of Westbrook's teammates in 2016-17.
Again, the cost to the Thunder was incredibly low. Kanter is a useful, if overpaid, contributor off the bench. But his defensive deficiencies rendered him nearly unplayable during Oklahoma City's playoff series with the Houston Rockets, when he got on the floor for just 45 minutes over five games as the Thunder lost 4-1. McDermott is similarly limited at the defensive end of the court, which prevented Oklahoma City from fully taking advantage of his ability to space the floor. And the second-round pick has little trade value.
The Thunder can now put out a lineup better equipped to match up with the Golden State Warriors and other opponents with effective smallball attacks. George's arrival allows Andre Roberson to defend power forwards, the role he played against Golden State in the 2016 Western Conference finals when Billy Donovan went small to match up. Playing Roberson as a 4 offensively hides his shortcomings as a shooter.
Anthony's arrival also means the Thunder are less dependent on Patrick Patterson, who underwent knee surgery last month not long after signing with Oklahoma City as a free agent. Patterson could provide more shooting if he plays ahead of Roberson in a postseason setting, but the Thunder no longer need him to start if his rehab is slower than anticipated.
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The big question for Oklahoma City is how Westbrook, George and Anthony will share the load offensively. The Westbrook-George pairing figured to work similarly to Westbrook and Kevin Durant, but the Thunder never had a third starter as offensive-minded as Anthony alongside Westbrook. Between 2009-10 and Durant's departure, the highest usage rate for an Oklahoma City starter besides the two stars was Kanter's 23.6 percent mark in 2015-16. (Kanter also had a 23.9 percent usage rate in 2014-14, which he split between the Thunder and the Utah Jazz.) Anthony's usage rate was 29.1 percent last season, and that was his lowest mark since his rookie season.
The success of this partnership will be determined in large part by Anthony's ability to become more efficient in a smaller role. Hope for that is provided by Anthony's success with the USA National Team in the Olympics and other international competitions. However, Anthony benefited there from the shorter FIBA 3-point line. He'll spend far more time in a catch-and-shoot role this season and needs to make 3s at an above-average rate, as he did in 2016-17 (35.9 percent).
I'm not convinced that adding Anthony makes Oklahoma City the biggest threat to the Warriors in the West. The Houston Rockets still look like a deeper team, albeit with fit questions of their own. But at this low price, there's no question this was a chance worth taking for the Thunder.
The biggest price may be the literal cost to ownership. Adding Anthony's salary, even without his trade bonus (waived to complete the trade) takes Oklahoma City even deeper into the luxury tax. Barring a midseason move to shed payroll, the Thunder are looking at paying nearly $30 million in taxes. Anthony's 2018-19 player option also limits Oklahoma City's flexibility next summer should George or Westbrook (or both) depart, although if Anthony expects that he may opt out of his contract as well. And in the case that all three players return, the Thunder would be staring at an enormous repeater tax bill.
New York Knicks: D
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Knicks GM Scott Perry was looking for a scoring wing, short-term contracts and draft picks in an Anthony trade. Consider New York one for three in accomplishing those goals. For the Knicks not to even be able to get a good second-round pick in this trade is a disappointment, and McDermott certainly doesn't qualify as a wing capable of replacing Anthony's scoring production.
At least New York isn't tied to long-term contracts as a result of this deal. McDermott is in the final season of his rookie contract, while Kanter -- like Anthony -- has a 2018-19 player option. With limited cap space available, the market for centers could be rough, so I'd expect Kanter to opt in. In that case, the Knicks aren't creating much cap relief in the summer of 2018 as compared to Anthony's player option. Still, this certainly isn't as bad as taking on the remaining three years of Ryan Anderson's contract, which likely would have been required of any trade with the Rockets.
Kanter doesn't really fill a need for New York, which already has a similar prospect with more defensive potential in Wily Hernangomez. With Hernangomez, Kanter, Joakim Noah and Kyle O'Quinn the Knicks are overflowing at the center position despite the fact that they should probably be getting power forward Kristaps Porzingis minutes there. I'd expect New York to explore the trade market for Kanter, which is unlikely to yield much value in return.
At this point, it was unlikely the Knicks would get much in return for Anthony. His no-trade clause limited their options, and Anthony is no longer a star player worth his maximum contract. More than anything, what the Knicks get out of this deal is the ability to move on from the ugly end to the Anthony era in the Big Apple. There's no longer any obligation to try to win on Anthony's timetable, which may have been a factor in the awful Noah contract, and by making the trade now New York avoids the awkwardness of bringing Anthony to training camp with both sides eager for a deal.
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9/23/2017 6:45 PM