What if the Knicks Never Gave Melo a No Trade?
Oh the possibilities....
It’s Hump Day, which means a visit to Wonderland for “What If?” Wednesday, but first…
Do you have questions? Well I have answers! Recording another mailbag pod later this week with KFS Big Deal Kris Pursisinen, so email your inquiries to KFSMailbag@gmail.com. If you've already sent one in, I didn’t forget about you…we’ll get to it for sure.
Now for today’s acid trip…
I held off for as long as I could, but it’s about time I tackle what I’ve long considered to be the most detrimental move the Knicks have made in my lifetime: giving Melo his no trade clause.
“You trippin’ Mac!”
Oh, I hear you. I hear you loud and clear. The Bargs trade? The Noah signing? The Curry debacle? On their face, they all far outweigh the negative impact of giving a no-trade clause to a guy who New York wound up trading anyway - for the best current player on the team, no less - and who we can’t even be sure would have yielded a decent return if and when they dealt him earlier.
To explain, allow me to go back to…
February 2015
The Knicks enter the month - Derek Fisher’s last as head coach - with a 23-27 record. They sat ninth in the East and were somehow just three games out of the final playoff spot with a starting lineup that featured Melo, a rookie KP, Robin Lopez, an aging-before-our-eyes Aaron Afflalo, and noted turnstile Jose Calderón.
Anthony was in the midst of his most well-rounded season as a Knick, dishing four dimes a night to go with nearly 22 points and eight boards. He was still several months away from his 32nd birthday, and only 18 months removed from signing his most recent contract. He was still considered an asset, albeit an expensive one.
Porzingis, meanwhile, had already established himself as a force to be reckoned with. He had missed just one game and was the unquestioned future of the franchise.
At this point, it was clear that the time to move on from Melo was now, and at least one team was interested. After the deadline, Ian Begley reported the following:
Prior to the trade deadline, the Boston Celtics expressed interest in obtaining Anthony via a trade with the Knicks, according to league sources with knowledge of the situation.
We know Phil wasn’t bashful, and that summer he felt out Anthony for his desire to be dealt. Getting nowhere, he instead doubled down on a win-now approach, traded for Derrick Rose in June and spent $150 million combined on Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee, Lance Thomas and Brandon Jennings in July.
Those transactions netted the team…one fewer win than the season prior. It also led to, in order:
Jackson openly slandering Anthony the following summer in an effort to get him to waive his no trade clause, which resulted in..
KP getting pissed and not showing up to his exit meeting, followed by…
Jackson discussing KP in trades and subsequently getting canned
Mills was then put in charge, Noah was waived and stretched, Porzingis was eventually dealt for magic beans, KD tore his Achilles, and Julius Randle arrived to Make Spinning Into Triple Teams Great Again.
Yay.
But what if Melo didn’t have the No Trade Clause and Jackson was able to open up a bidding war for his services prior to the deadline?
It’s impossible to know what they would have gotten, but the smart money says the package would have been comprised of at least one young player and/or solid if unspectacular draft asset.
And after the trade? Stay with me here, because this is going to move kinda’ fast…
April 2016
Without Melo as the backbone of a team that saw KP sit out the final 10 games, the Knicks conclude their season with a record of 28-54 - four fewer wins than they ended up with in real life. Sadly, they only improved the draft position of the Nuggets, who owned New York’s pick from the trade that brought Anthony to New York.
June 2016
Derrick Rose gets traded somewhere else (my guess is Houston). Robin Lopez, Jerian Grant and Jose Calderón remain in New York.
July 2016
With no need for a starting center, Joakim Noah takes Washington’s money and lights up the District. Desperate for wing play, Phil still signs Courtney Lee and Lance Thomas, but instead spends some of the Noah money on old buddy Pau Gasol, giving him a third guaranteed year (at $13.3 million per) to sway him from joining the Spurs. With the remaining money, he brings Maurice Harkless home for four years, $52 million to be his starting small forward.
April 2017
The Knicks finish their season at 27-55. KP shines but is overwhelmed as a top option. RoLo, Lee and Moe are consistent supporting pieces, but the Jerian Grant starting point guard experiment is an abject disaster, and Calderon lost yet another step and was unplayable defensively. The team enters draft night with the fourth best lottery odds.
May 2017
The Knicks yet again get unlucky on lotto night, falling from fourth to fifth as the Kings jump them and the Suns in the draft order…except Sacramento had previously traded away swap rights to the Sixers, so the final lottery order is:
Boston (via Brooklyn)
Lakers
Sixers (via Kings)
Suns
Knicks
Kings
(this was actually how the lotto shook out, by the way…the Knicks would have had one fewer win than Philly, so they’d be sitting one spot ahead of Sacramento after all was said and done)
June 2018
The Knicks are enamored with a young Frenchman who profiles as a fantastic fit in the triangle offense, but can’t pass on the talent of Kentucky product De’Aaron Fox, and select him at five. The Kings take Dennis Smith Jr. sixth, the Magic take Jonathan Isaac seventh, the Bulls take Lauri Markkanen eighth, and the Mavs take Frank Ntilikina ninth.
“Our draft room exploded when he fell to us” exclaims Mavs’ head coach Rick Carlisle.
July 2017
Still capped out from the previous summer, the Knicks watch Tim Hardaway Jr. settle for a three-year, $36 million extension with Atlanta. Phil uses their full midlevel exception on Vince Carter as a veteran mentor and floor spacer for his young club. Jarrett Jack buys a used car dealership in Jersey.
February 6, 2018
Thanks to starting a rookie point guard all season long, the Knicks enter play that night against the Bucks with only a 19-35 record but feeling great about their future, with Kristaps Porzingis having been named an All-Star and De’Aaron Fox showing signs of being a future All-Star himself.
Then, disaster strike, and KP tears his ACL.
May 2018
After finishing with a record of 23-59, the Knicks grab the fifth spot in the lottery.
June 2018
Phil goes all in, and trades an unprotected 2019 first round pick to move up to third in the lottery and select Luka Doncic.
Asked about playing in the triangle upon getting drafted, an embarrassed Luka responds “well, we have a different name for it over in Spain, but yes, I’m very excited to get to know all the ladies of New York.”
May 2019
Despite KP sitting out the season, the Knicks slide into the playoffs with a record of 42-40, getting the tiebreaker over the feisty Nets for the sixth seed. They lose to the Sixers in five games, but enter the offseason with close to two max salary slots.
“I gotta say…they got something brewing over there” Jimmy Butler is heard as he’s leaving the Philly locker room after Game 5.
June 2019
After tearing his ACL in the Finals, Kevin Durant backchannels his interest in joining the Knicks young core. Phil Jackson fires off a tweet once he catches wind:
Jackson then trades away the expiring contracts of Courtney Lee and Mo Harkless (along with some future second rounders) to open up two full max slots.
July 1, 2019
The Knicks agree to terms with Jimmy Butler and Al Horford on 4-year max deals, and subsequently agree to a 5-year max with Kristaps Porzingis, now fully recovered from his torn ACL.
November 10, 2019
Off to a sluggish 8-4 start, Phil Jackson holds an impromptu press conference after a last second loss to the Cavs at home and announces he’s firing Jeff Hornacek and taking over as part time coach. Kurt Rambis will coach road games.
December 6, 2019
Kurt Rambis doesn’t show up to practice, and was last seen nearby Jimmy Butler’s open trunk following a particularly contentious scrimmage in which Butler called out the rest of the starters as “f——— p——s.” Out of options, Jackson appoints Butler as player coach for road games. The Knicks go 41-2 until COVID-19 temporarily shuts down the NBA season.
August 2023
Phil Jackson finally competes his elusive four-peat over a 38-year-old LeBron James, who joined the Warriors the previous summer following Draymond Green’s unexpected retirement and subsequent failed bid for Governor of California.
“His posse didn’t stand a chance,” says a smiling Jackson from his wheelchair in the visitor’s locker room after the game. “Is weed still legal here?”
Jackson finally retires and turns the team over to general manager Janis Porzingis.
JD & the Straight Shots play from the City Hall stage at the championship parade to a round of raucous applause. Dolan receives the key to the city.
The Knicks Film School Newsletter, having been reduced to sending out links to fake G.I. Joe PSA’s in place of actual newsletters because all the winning became so monotonous, sends out it’s final edition.
The last letter merely a photo of its author passed out in a puddle of his own vomit next to an empty bottle of Black Label. He is wearing this party hat:
So I guess maybe it’s for the best that Melo had that no trade clause after all.