Carmelo Anthony‘s college coach says Phil Jackson should have traded the Knicks star before being fired in June, relays Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog. “I think in reality it would’ve been better if they let Phil make the trade and then got rid of him,” said Jim Boeheim of Syracuse. “Now the new guys are going to be held responsible for the deal and nobody’s going to give much up [for Anthony in a trade]. So they’re going to end up not getting a lot for him and it’s really because of what Phil did in poisoning the air.”
Boeheim added that Anthony doesn’t fit in New York anymore because the organization has launched a youth movement and won’t be competitive for at least two or three years. Anthony has two seasons and more than $54MM left on his current contract, which contains an early termination option next summer. Boeheim believes Anthony would be “a great fit” for the Rockets, who are reportedly the only team he will currently waive his no-trade clause to join.
There’s more news out of the Atlantic Division:
- In his latest mailbag, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton examines Anthony’s rating of 64th in the network’s list of top 100 players and explains why it’s justified. He shows that the Knicks forward’s usage and efficiency rates have declined steadily since 2012/13.
- Nets first-rounder Jarrett Allen is looking forward to teaming up with newly acquired point guard D’Angelo Russell, relays Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily. The big man out of Texas had to skip summer league because of a hip injury, so the preseason will be the first chance for Brooklyn fans to see him in action. In a question-and-answer session with Puccio, Allen says Russell provides a perfect complement for his skills. “Being 6’10” and athletic I’ll be doing a lot of pick-and-rolls with D’Angelo – set him good screens, roll to the basket or pop and let him do his work and lob it up to me eventually,” Allen said. “… He’s great with the ball, makes good decisions and makes really good passes. He’s going to find me.”
- Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders updated his salary totals for two Atlantic Division teams in light of recent signings. The Celtics are at $111,505,141 total and $109,873,911 in guaranteed money after camp deals with L.J. Peak and Andrew White and a two-way contract with Jabari Bird. Tyler Zeller‘s deal with the Nets brought Brooklyn to $97,328,061 total and $94,222,526 in guaranteed cash.
If Ntilikina turns out to be good, Jordan can seriously consider hire Phil for scouting.
I’m sorry Kevin but the Carmelo ranking is unjustifiable. Barnes and Wiggins do not deserve to be above Melo for what they did last season. Barnes averaged less points, with the same efficiency, on a team with a great offensive coach, where he was the clear cut #1 option. Anthony was with a mess of an organization and shared the ball with Porzingis and Rose. Wiggins and Melo’s stats were relatively the same but Wiggins is easily the worse defender of the two and isn’t an off ball player.
Those rankings were so bad it was funny in less you play with LBJ of for the GSW you mean nothing just look how far Kyrie fell
Forget the name recognition or “star” status. At this point of his career, Carmelo Anthony is, at best, a bench player. Bench players are not, nor should they ever be considered a top 100 or even a top 50 player in the Association. End.
Swap 50 and 100.
Did you even look at those rankings you should it’s laughable but your right about Carmelo
In what world does a “bench player” average 23/6/3? His numbers have declined steadily because of one thing: they stopped using him at the 4. In 2012/13 and 13/14 he has his best years, because he was a PF. Since then he hasn’t and he has “declined”.
Averaging those numbers on a 30 win team is no great accomplishment. Undermining management, coaches and team just so you can put up stats actually hurts a team and does not make you a great player. That being said look at what Havlachek and McHale did as sixth men and they were top 20 players at the time. Melo should come off bench cause he doesn’t play D and that way if he’s hot you leave him in and if not you can sit him.
In order for Melo to be a better defender either Wiggins would have to stop breathing or Melo would actually have to play D.
In order for Melo to be the better defender Wiggins would have to stop breathing or Melo would actually have to play defense.
Agreed Philly Fan on both Wiggins and Barnes. Not only is Wiggins defense disappointing for a guy with his length and athleticism, his three point shooting is not as solid as Melo’s.
Melo should have been in the 40-50 range.
Phil Jackson poisoned the air… with truth. He should move to TV commentary but maybe they don’t want a truthy loose cannon either.
But yes Boeheim is right… Dolan should have had Jackson take the best offer then fired him in the backlash. Tanking is harsh medicine!
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Speaking of sports journalism, Peter Vecsey has declared for all that LeBron James is going to the Lakers, based on nothing in particular, except that he has a new paywalled column to promote. Interesting to see if HR mentions it.
Most journalism is just that.
This is why i enjoy this app. Its reporting and rarely conjecture or extrapolation.