Carmelo Anthony’s retirement announcement this week sparked a worthwhile debate in New York over whether the Knicks should retire his No. 7 to the Garden rafters.
Whatever side of that argument you fall on (see below), the far more pertinent discussion involving Carmelo’s tenure here — at least in relation to the Knicks’ current situation — should be regarding the difficulty of pulling off a blockbuster trade for a superstar in the modern NBA.
More than a dozen years have passed since James Dolan authorized — forced? — then-president Donnie Walsh to give up four players and multiple draft picks to obtain Anthony in 2011 in a move that resulted in seven consecutive All-Star appearances for Melo, but only one playoff series victory for the Knicks.
The Knicks’ current front-office regime — led by team president Leon Rose — has attempted to take such big swings in recent years, too, most notably falling short in a bid to land Westchester product Donovan Mitchell from the Jazz last summer.
