Wilson Chandler

And-Ones: Stoudemire, Nuggets, Kenyon, Bucks

February 5th, 2015 at 11:00am CST by Chuck Myron

It’s “quite possible” that Amar’e Stoudemire would return to the Suns when he becomes a free agent this summer, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post, who speculates that the Magic might have interest in the native of central Florida. In any case, he’s not looking to buy out his contract and hit free agency at any point this season, since he doesn’t want to uproot his family and would prefer the Knicks retain his Bird rights and the flexibility that comes with them, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The Knicks remain open to trading him, but it’s unlikely that they do, Kyler says, and Stoudemire said Wednesday that he doesn’t anticipate a swap. While we wait to see how it turns out for the big man who’s making more than $23.4MM this year, here’s more from around the league:

The general belief is that the Nuggets are seeking a first-round pick in return for Wilson Chandler, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. The Blazers and Clippers have interest, as Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post reported last month, but I speculated when I examined Chandler’s trade candidacy that it’s unlikely that Denver reaps a first-rounder for him.
Knicks president Phil Jackson confronted Kenyon Martin last month shortly after Martin made public comments indicating that the team didn’t have any interest in re-signing him this past offseason, a Bucks official tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
A key figure in the Wisconsin state legislature said Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal for $220MM worth of public funding for a new Bucks arena has “no chance” to receive legislative approval unless the city and county pony up funds, too, reports Scott Bauer of The Associated Press. The NBA can take over the Bucks in 2017 if no arena is in place.

Deveney’s Latest: Afflalo, Jackson, Hill

February 4th, 2015 at 4:17pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA trade deadline is just over two weeks away and the front office activity around the league is sure to ramp up as February 19th rapidly approaches. Sean Deveney of The Sporting News ran down a number of tidbits regarding players who are on the trading block. Here are some of the highlights:

The Nuggets have discussed dealing Wilson Chandler but would prefer to trade Arron Afflalo instead, Deveney notes.
The trade market for Reggie Jackson is much weaker than the Thunder expected, Deveney adds.
Lakers center Jordan Hill remains a hot commodity despite Los Angeles informing interested teams that he isn’t available, Deveney reports. Hill is out with a quad injury that could sideline him until the deadline has passed, but the Sporting News scribe expects the interest in the big man to remain high.
Los Angeles is willing to deal Jeremy Lin if it could nab an asset in return, but the market for the Lakers‘ point guard has been weak, Deveney notes.
Bulls forward Taj Gibson has been linked to a number of interested teams around the league over the past few months, including the Raptors, Suns, Pistons, Trail Blazers, and an unspecified team from Los Angeles, Deveney relays.
The Wolves are open to the idea of trading Mo Williams, but with his team friendly salary and Minnesota’s young backcourt, the franchise isn’t desperate to make a deal, Deveney adds.
The Pistons are seeking backcourt depth in the wake of Brandon Jennings‘ injury and Jonas Jerebko is Detroit’s best available trade chip, Deveney opines. The Pistons have depth at the forward position and would like to deal Jerebko for a point guard, notes Deveney.
The Lakers have had their eyes on Suns guard Goran Dragic all season, but Los Angeles lacks the assets needed to get a deal done, the Sporting News scribe notes.
Kemba Walker‘s injury could change the Hornets‘ willingness to make a trade, but the team would still prefer to move Lance Stephenson, Deveney notes. There is still the possibility that talks with the Nets could start again for the mercurial guard, and the Pacers and the Knicks also remain possible destinations for Stephenson, Deveney reports.

Mannix’s Latest: Allen, Lopez, Nuggets, Thunder

January 30th, 2015 at 11:17am CST by Chuck Myron

People around the league increasingly believe that Ray Allen already knows the team he would like to play for this season, and that he’s simply deciding whether he wants to play at all, Chris Mannix of SI.com writes. Allen has hinted within the past two weeks that he’s coming back to the NBA, but another more recent report indicated that he’s enjoying time with his family. Mannix has a ton of noteworthy items in his latest weekly column, many of them with a Thunder-centric theme, and we’ll hit the highlights here.

The Nuggets are still trying to pry Brook Lopez from the Nets with a package centered on JaVale McGee, according to Mannix. Still, Denver doesn’t want to put Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried, Jusuf Nurkic or Wilson Chandler into any deal, Mannix cautions.
The Thunder are willing to go deep into the luxury tax this season to acquire Lopez, the SI.com scribe writes. Oklahoma City is unwilling to give up any of its top present-day talent, nor will the team make a move that damages its future as the Thunder look for trade partners who are “desperate,” an opposing GM tells Mannix.
Reggie Jackson turned down an extension offer from Oklahoma City that would have made him the most highly paid backup in the NBA, a source tells Mannix. Just what sort of salary that would have meant is unclear, since Amar’e Stoudemire has made more appearances off the bench than he has starts on a deal that gives him in excess of $23.4MM this season. Some teams believed at the beginning of the season that there was a decent chance that Jackson would command offers of between $13MM and $14MM in restricted free agency this summer, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote in October.
Several executives from around the NBA believe it’s conceivable that a five-year max deal for Kevin Durant will be worth some $200MM when he hits free agency in 2016, according to Mannix. Durant will be eligible for a max worth about 35% of the salary cap as a 10-year veteran that summer. Those execs also believe that Durant likes playing in Oklahoma City, as he’s said, Mannix writes.
Markieff Morris believes he and brother Marcus Morris might have made more money in restricted free agency this summer if they hadn’t signed extensions with the Suns, but Markieff can’t envision ever playing without his twin again, as he tells Mannix.

Blazers, Clippers Interested In Wilson Chandler

January 14th, 2015 at 1:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 1:36pm: The Blazers and Clippers are among many teams who have strong interest in acquiring Chandler, Dempsey reports, though coach Brian Shaw denies that the team is trying to trade either Chandler or Afflalo. Chandler says the Nuggets told him they wouldn’t trade him, Dempsey writes, echoing his earlier report, though the swingman doesn’t dismiss the possibility that the team would nonetheless deal him away. Shaw clarifies that while the team isn’t shopping anyone, the Nuggets won’t turn away offers of the sort that pried Mozgov loose. The Nuggets have been “flooded with inquiries” about nearly everyone on the team, Dempsey writes.

“I’d be willing to go out on a limb and say that anybody on our team and everybody on our team, if there were an offer that was too good to pass up, everybody would be expendable,” Shaw said. “If Phil Jackson came out of retirement and said he wanted to come coach the Denver Nuggets, I’m expendable. You know what I mean? It is what it is. We all have had to deal with it at some point in our careers. They’ll be fine.”

TUESDAY, 9:30am: The Nuggets are aggressively shopping Wilson Chandler in a future-focused pursuit of assets, TNT’s David Aldridge reports (Twitter link). It appears there’s plenty of interest from other teams in the eighth-year veteran, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com reported Monday that the Nuggets were receiving numerous calls about Chandler as well as Arron Afflalo. Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post also heard last month that the team had fielded multiple inquiries about Chandler, though he added that the Nuggets had told the 29-year-old that they preferred to keep him. That was before the team traded Timofey Mozgov last week in a deal that brought back two first-round picks.

The Thunder reportedly checked on Denver’s willingness to part with Chandler, according to a report from Chris Mannix of SI.com a month ago, though a trade last week may have changed the equation for Oklahoma City, too, since the Thunder have acquired Dion Waiters. Chandler wanted to play for the Pistons in the past, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press tweets, though it’s unclear if that’s the case now. The swingman is making nearly $6.758MM this season, but next season’s salary of almost $7.172MM is only guaranteed for $2MM, putting him on an expiring contract of sorts.

Denver had been drawing closer to the realization that the playoffs are most likely out of reach, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote last week, but the team has won four in a row. Still, the Nuggets are 17-20, three and a half games behind the Suns for eighth place in the Western Conference. A Chandler trade could help Denver escape mediocrity, as I wrote when I examined his trade candidacy.

Heat, Clippers, Hornets Eye Arron Afflalo

January 12th, 2015 at 5:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Heat, Clippers and Hornets have all discussed Arron Afflalo as the Nuggets field numerous trade calls on Afflalo and Wilson Chandler, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). Afflalo has a player option for next season worth $7.36MM and was rumored to be interested in hitting the open market.

The Clippers were in discussions with the Celtics about acquiring shooting guard Austin Rivers. The team seems interested in adding depth at the guard position and there’s no word yet whether one move would exclude the other.

Charlotte has been linked to Afflalo since last season when he was a member of the Magic. The Hornets have won five games in a row and find themselves just two games behind the Nets for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Miami is already in position to make the playoffs but would most likely need to add reinforcements if the team is to make any sort of deep postseason run. Mario Chalmers ($4.0MM) or Chris Andersen ($5.38MM) seem like candidates to be in a trade for Afflalo based on their salaries, although that is just my speculation.

Afflalo is having a rough season so far. He is averaging 15.5 points per game and his player efficiency rating is down to 12.75. However, based on his past history, he should have plenty of interest from teams as the trade deadline approaches.

Chris Crouse contributed to this post

Trade Candidate: Wilson Chandler

December 29th, 2014 at 4:56pm CST by Chuck Myron

Wilson Chandler won’t be hailed as a savior for any team should he be traded this season, but he’s nonetheless the sort of player capable of subtly tipping a title race during a season in which no clear favorite has emerged. Raw numbers suggest the 27-year-old has been remarkably consistent throughout his career. Save for his rookie season and his abbreviated eight-game 2011/12 campaign, the eighth-year veteran has never scored fewer than 13.0 or more than 15.3 points per game. His rebounds per contest, discarding his rookie year, have ranged from a career-low 4.7 last season to a career-best 6.1 this year. He’s reportedly drawn interest from the Thunder and no shortage of others, but the Nuggets are apparently reluctant to give him up. Still, as the season wears on, it would seem that barring a dramatic turnaround from their 13-18 start, there will be more motivation for the Nuggets to trade Chandler as the February 19th deadline draws near.

Chandler is on an expiring contract of sorts. He’s scheduled to make almost $7.172MM next season, but only $2MM of that salary is guaranteed. He offers the potential of salary cap relief, or at the very least flexibility, to teams that might pursue him via trade. Yet Denver would have little to gain from releasing him, since the Nuggets already have more than $58MM in commitments for next season, leaving the ability to clear only marginal room beneath a salary cap that the league projects to come in around $66.5MM for next season. He’s the team’s second-leading scorer this year, with his 14.5 PPG a shade better than Arron Afflalo‘s 14.4, but it remains to be seen just how much longer he’ll be a starter in Denver. Danilo Gallinari had a minor procedure recently on his right knee as he continues to shake off the rust from having missed all of last season with a torn ACL in his left knee, but once he’s back to full health, he’ll surely challenge Chandler for his playing time. Afflalo and Kenneth Faried man the other positions Chandler seems suited to play.

The Nuggets appear as though they’re in no rush to make drastic moves, but while they’ve gone 12-12 since a disconcerting 1-6 start, a .500 record won’t get it done in the Western Conference. It’s quite conceivable that the rival executives interested in Chandler are engaged in a waiting game of sorts, confident that Denver will deal by the deadline. By the same token, there’s a decent chance that Nuggets GM Tim Connelly is merely waiting to see if the offers improve. There’s no pressing need for Denver to deal Chandler, whose contract will continue to serve as a potential money-saver for teams into next season. Still, Denver finds itself in a most unenviable position, without any semblance of the pieces needed to contend and nowhere near the inside track to the top of the draft order. The Nuggets must either act decisively or languish.

Chandler has been a minus defensively under coach Brian Shaw. The Nuggets were better on defense with Chandler on the floor during their 57-win season in 2012/13 by a measure of 2.6 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com. The opposite was true last season, when Denver was 4.1 points per 100 possessions stingier without him, and this season, the Nuggets are a stunning 10.2 points per 100 possessions better when Chandler sits. That’s approximately equivalent to the gap between Golden State’s NBA-best defense and the Pelicans, the league’s fifth least efficient defensive squad.

It’s not hard to see that the former 23rd overall pick from the 2007 draft has played differently under Shaw than he did for ex-Nuggets coach George Karl. A significantly higher percentage of his shots have come from behind the three-point arc the last two seasons, as Basketball-Reference shows, largely at the expense of his close-range looks. Chandler has proven a capable three-point shooter, nailing 41.3% of his tries in the last season before Shaw took over and 35.5% this year. He kept up his usual rate of heading to the free-throw line last year, but this season he’s taking only 1.7 free throws per game, his lowest number of such attempts save for his rookie campaign and that abbreviated 2011/12 season.

The net result of the changes under Shaw haven’t affected his points and rebounds, but his PER, a stout 16.6 in 2012/13, dipped to 12.4 last season and 12.7 this year, both marks well below the 15.0 threshold for an average player. He’s played almost exclusively as a small forward the past two years, but during his final season under Karl, he was mostly a power forward, according to Basketball-Reference.

Chandler’s value appears to depend on the context in which he’s playing. That’s why it’s not difficult to see why the Thunder are high on him. Oklahoma City could surround him with the long arms of Kevin Durant and perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate Serge Ibaka to minimize his defensive shortcomings. The Thunder, long in need of a reliable outside shooting complement to Durant and Russell Westbrook, could assign Chandler to that role. The stumbling block, as ever, is what the Nuggets would want in return.

Connelly probably can’t get a first-round pick for Chandler, and there’s little sense in merely pawning him off for second-rounders. The Nuggets could attempt to attach Chandler to an undesirable contract to help clear real cap flexibility for the summer ahead, but he wouldn’t be enough to entice a team to take back JaVale McGee and the $23.25MM in total salary he makes this season and next. J.J. Hickson doesn’t seem to be a fit in a crowded Nuggets frontcourt, but dealing his nearly $5.614MM salary for next season along with Chandler wouldn’t really move the needle much for Denver. The Nuggets stand to benefit from an infusion of intriguing young talent, but the Thunder aren’t blessed with much of that outside their core players.

The Rockets also make sense a suitor, given the strength of their defense and emphasis on outside shooting, and Houston has more fungible assets that Oklahoma City does. But Houston is always on the lookout for a star, and at this point the addition of Chandler wouldn’t do much to help the Rockets toward that goal. The Hawks have a top-10 defense, a penchant for three-pointers, and movable pieces, but there might not be a reason for Atlanta to make a win-now move this season.

There’s no obvious fit for Chandler. However, almost two months remain before the trade deadline, and costly injuries along with other seismic changes may still alter the picture. Chandler looms as a potential solution for a team in a position to help Denver lurch one direction or another away from the clutches of mediocrity.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Western Rumors: Chandler, Gasol, Mekel

December 25th, 2014 at 12:01pm CST by Charlie Adams

Let’s dive in and have a look at the latest rumors and rumblings out of the NBA’s Western Conference:

The Nuggets have received multiple inquiries about the availability of Wilson Chandler, but the team has expressed to the 29-year-old forward that they prefer to retain him, as Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post notes within his weekly mailbag column.
Pau Gasol admits it was a tough decision to leave the Lakers and sign with the Bulls, and not only because of his emotional attachment to the city of Los Angeles, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times details. The Lakers offered offered Gasol deals featuring a no-trade clause worth $29MM over three years and $23MM over two years. Gasol, who eventually signed with Chicago on a three-year, $22MM deal, says it’s been difficult to watch the Lakers struggle this season but that he doesn’t regret his decision.
Discussions between Gal Mekel and Maccabi Tel Aviv have hit a snag, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (via Twitter). We learned on Tuesday that the ex-Pelicans guard had an offer from Maccabi to return overseas, but that opportunity has apparently been put on hold. Instead, former eighth overall pick Joe Alexander is finalizing and agreement to leave the Santa Cruz Warriors of the D-League and join Maccabi, Pick passes along (Twitter links). Alexander had a deal in place to join the Nuggets for camp this fall before failing a physical.

Beck’s Latest: Kings, Knicks, Suns, Nets, Rockets

December 15th, 2014 at 2:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

There will be chatter aplenty between now and the February 19th trade deadline, but not all of it will truly constitute trade rumors, as Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck cautions. However, when multiple voices speak in unison, there’s usually a grain of truth involved, and Beck has plenty of tidbits he’s heard from a variety of sources around the league. We already passed along the news that the Pistons are putting Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings on the block, but that’s not the only item of note. We’ll pass along the rest of the highlights here and encourage you to read Beck’s full piece for more:

The Kings head coaching job is George Karl‘s if he wants it, as both Beck and Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee hear (Twitter links). Alvin Gentry and Mark Jackson are also “prime candidates,” according to Beck, though it’s not clear if the Kings are targeting either of them. Karl said to Tom Byrne of SiriusXM NBA Radio today that, “If they’re interested in me, I’m interested in them (Twitter link). Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first identified Karl as the front-runner for the job, which Tyrone Corbin is expected to assume on an interim basis.
Executives around the league tell Beck that the Knicks are making all of their players except for Carmelo Anthony available, as Beck writes in his piece. A similar scenario is in place for New Orleans, where the Pelicans are open to trading everyone outside of Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Omer Asik and Ryan Anderson, Beck hears.
Many executives expect the Suns to trade one of Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas, according to Beck.
The Nets would probably only move one or two of Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson, team sources tell Beck. The Rockets asked Brooklyn about Andrei Kirilenko before the Nets traded him to the Sixers last week, Beck also hears.
There’s conflicting intel on the Nuggets, whom many executives view as top candidates to become sellers, while one Western Conference exec tells Beck that the Nuggets like their team and aren’t inclined to move anybody. In any case, there’s plenty of interest in Wilson Chandler and Timofey Mozgov, executives have said to Beck.
Many executives and scouts identified Thaddeus Young, Mo Williams and David Lee among likely trade candidates, Beck writes.

Thunder Ask Nuggets About Wilson Chandler

December 12th, 2014 at 10:07am CST by Chuck Myron

The Thunder have checked on Denver’s willingness to part with Wilson Chandler, as Chris Mannix of SI.com reports amid his weekly notebook column. Chandler is making almost $6.758MM this year in the next-to-last season of his contract, and only $2MM of his nearly $7.172MM salary for 2015/16 is guaranteed. It’s unclear what Oklahoma City would be willing to give up in return, but the Thunder would have to relinquish some salary to acquire Chandler, since they don’t have a trade exception large enough to accommodate him and they’re only about $1MM shy of the luxury tax threshold.

A report in July indicated that the Nuggets were thinking of trading either Chandler, JaVale McGee or both, and Denver apparently put Chandler in a pair of trade proposals to Minnesota for Kevin Love before Love wound up in Cleveland. Chandler, 27, is performing slightly above his career averages this season as he puts up 14.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in 30.3 minutes per game with 38.3% three-point shooting. He’s starting at small forward in front of Danilo Gallinari for a deep but mediocre Nuggets team that’s gone just 10-12 but is 8-5 after a 2-7 start. Denver is about $3MM shy of the tax line.

The Thunder are climbing out of an early-season hole that resulted from injuries to Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and a host of others. They’ve won six of their last seven games to improve to 9-13, a mark that’s just two games back in the loss column from the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Trade Retrospective: Carmelo Anthony To Knicks

August 16th, 2014 at 9:16am CST by Eddie Scarito

There are only eight more days until Andrew Wiggins can officially be traded, and Kevin Love can put on a Cavaliers jersey, which would complete the biggest trade of the summer. But the trade doesn’t guarantee that Cleveland will hoist a Championship banner next year, or that the Timberwolves will break their string of missing the playoffs.

I’ve been taking a look back at past blockbuster deals, and how they worked out for both sides involved. So far I’ve recapped the deals that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers; Deron Williams to the Nets; and Kevin Garnett to the Celtics. Next on the docket is the February of 2011 trade that sent Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks.

Anthony pushed for the trade during the 2010/11 season primarily because of the new CBA in the works that would reduce the maximum contract amount he would be able to re-sign for. With the labor agreement ending June 30th, 2011, and uncertainty surrounding what the next pact would look like, it was in Anthony’s best financial interests to sign an extension as part of an extend-and-trade transaction with the Knicks rather than wait for free agency.

The cuts didn’t end up being quite as harsh as the players had feared. As part of the trade, Anthony signed a three-year, $65MM extension with the Knicks. The maximum amount he could have signed for under the new CBA as a free agent would have been approximately $58MM. The first-year salary would have still allowed for a maximum of 105% of his prior salary. It was after that first year, where the annual increases dropped under the new agreement, going from the previous CBA’s 8% maximum increase, down to 4.5%. It’s worth noting that since Anthony opted out of his contract’s final year, he only gained roughly $3MM over the course of that deal than if he would have simply signed with New York as a free agent.

The trade involved New York, the Nuggets, and the Timberwolves. Let’s begin by recapping the pieces involved.

The Knicks received Anthony; Renaldo Balkman; Chauncey Billups; Anthony Carter; and Shelden Williams from Denver. They also received Corey Brewer from Minnesota.
The Timberwolves received Eddy Curry; Anthony Randolph; and $3MM from New York. They also received a 2015 second-rounder from Denver.
The Nuggets received Danilo Gallinari; Wilson Chandler; Raymond Felton; Timofey Mozgov; the right to swap first-round picks in 2016; a 2014 first-rounder (No. 12 overall); a 2012 second-round pick (Quincy Miller); a 2013 second-round pick (via Golden State); and $3MM cash from the Knicks. Denver also received Kosta Koufos from Minnesota.

For the Knicks the big prize was obviously Anthony. Team owner James Dolan had been seeking a big name player, but had struck out in trying to lure LeBron James to New York the prior year, and the team had to settle for Amar’e Stoudemire instead. Dolan’s biggest fear was that Anthony could end up with the rival Nets, which would have been a blow to his ego, as well as threaten the Knicks’ position as the No. 1 team in New York.

The knock on ‘Melo has always been the same: he’s a ball-stopper who doesn’t make the players around him better. He had also led the Nuggets out of the first round of the playoffs just once (2008/09) during his tenure in Denver. Anthony may have broken the first-round curse of the Knicks back in 2012/13, but the criticisms still remain.

Anthony has been a stat-sheet filler for the Knicks during his time in New York. Here are his numbers by season since the trade:

2010/11: In the final 27 games after the trade, he averaged 26.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 3.0 APG.
2011/12: 22.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 3.6 APG. His slash line was .430/.335/.804.
2012/13: 28.7 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 2.6 APG. His slash line was .449/.379/.830.
2013/14: 27.4 PPG, 8.1 RPG, and 3.1 APG. His slash line was .452/.402/.848.

If you look at the trade based on Anthony’s statistical production, then it’s hard to argue that the deal was a failure. The Knicks hadn’t made the playoffs since the 2003/04 campaign, and their record since that year leading up to the Anthony acquisition was 173-319. Since the deal, the Knicks have made the playoffs three of the four seasons ‘Melo has been with the franchise. Their record during this stretch is 169-143.

As the team’s star player, Anthony gets a lot of heat for the Knicks’ failure to advance past the second round. I personally feel that while Anthony isn’t necessarily the problem, he hasn’t been the solution either. The front office hasn’t been able to pair him with the right group of players who maximize his talents and hide his deficiencies. The team has also suffered from poor point guard play throughout Anthony’s tenure, which is a major reason for the team’s disappointments.

But Anthony hasn’t been able to elevate those around him either. LeBron had less talent around him during his first stint in Cleveland, yet he was able to make it to the NBA Finals, losing to the Spurs in 2007. The Knicks and their fans had better hope that the triangle offense and arrival of Jose Calderon will help Anthony take his play to the next level, seeing as he isn’t leaving anytime soon. Anthony recently re-signed with the team for five years and $124MM.

Renaldo Balkman was originally drafted by the Knicks back in 2006. He was traded to the Nuggets in 2008, in what was essentially a salary dump. His second stint in New York lasted all of 17 games, where he averaged 2.0 PPG, in parts of two seasons. Balkman was released on February 17, 2012, to make room on the roster for J.R. Smith, who was signed as a free agent after playing in China. Balkman hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since. His only claim to fame since leaving the NBA was an incident where he choked a teammate during a game in the Philippines.

Chauncey Billups was a good pickup for the Knicks. At the time of the trade, he was averaging 16.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 5.3 APG. He finished out the season strong for New York, putting up 17.5 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 5.5 APG. But in December of that year the Knicks used the Amnesty Provision to waive Billups in order to clear enough cap space to sign free agent Tyson Chandler. Some would argue, myself included, that New York would have been better served in the long run to have amnestied Stoudemire instead.

The Clippers claimed Billups off of waivers for the bargain price of $2MM, leaving the Knicks on the hook for the remaining $12.2MM the player was owed for that season. Billups provided Los Angeles with 15.0 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 4.0 APG that year.

Anthony Carter was essentially a throw-in, and finished the season with the Knicks, averaging 4.4 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 2.3 APG. Carter became a free agent at the end of the season and signed with the Raptors. He appeared in 24 contests, averaging 2.0 PPG, 1.4 RPG, and 1.4 APG. He was waived by Toronto on March 15, 2012. He hasn’t played in an NBA game since, and is now an assistant coach in the NBA D-League.

Shelden Williams appeared in 17 games for New York, averaging 3.9 PPG and 2.9 RPG. The Knicks didn’t re-sign him at the end of the 2010/11 season. Williams then signed a one-year deal with the Nets, and appeared in 58 games for New Jersey, averaging 4.6 PPG and 6.0 RPG. That was Williams’ last season in the NBA, and he last saw action over in China.

Corey Brewer was waived by the Knicks without ever appearing in a game for them. Two days later, once Brewer cleared waivers, he signed a three-year, $8MM deal with the Mavericks. Brewer was part of Dallas’ championship team that season, averaging 5.3 PPG and 1.8 RPG. He was then traded that December to the Nuggets along with Rudy Fernandez in exchange for a 2016 second-round pick.

Brewer played well for Denver, averaging 8.9 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 2011/12, and 12.1 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 2012/13. He then left Denver as a free agent, signing a three-year, $15MM contract to return to the Wolves. Brewer averaged 12.3 PPG and 2.6 RPG last year for Minnesota.

Minnesota was involved to help the Knicks make the salaries work for matching purposes. They took on Eddy Curry‘s expiring deal, and they bought out his contract without him ever playing a game for them. Curry signed with the Heat in December of 2011, appearing in 14 games, averaging 2.1 PPG that year.

Anthony Randolph was supposed to be a big part of New York’s future when he was acquired as part of the sign-and-trade deal that sent David Lee to the Warriors. But he remained buried on the Knicks’ bench, averaging 2.1 PPG and 2.4 RPG, in just 7.1 minutes a night. He fared slightly better after the trade, averaging 7.4 PPG and 3.6 PPG to finish out the year.

After the season, Randolph left Minnesota and signed a three-year, $6MM deal with the Nuggets. He didn’t log many minutes in Denver either, averaging 4.3 PPG and 2.6 RPG in his two seasons with the Nuggets. He was then traded during the 2014 NBA Draft in the deal that sent the rights to Doug McDermott to the Bulls, and netted Denver the rights to Gary Harris.

This brings us to the Nuggets, and how they have fared since the trade. In Anthony’s eight seasons in Denver, the team’s cumulative record was 388-268. Since the trade, they have gone 131-99, with two playoff appearances, losing both series in the first round. Injuries have certainly taken their toll, and they’re the main reason the team missed the playoffs last year.

The centerpiece of the trade from Denver’s side, was Danilo Gallinari. The Nuggets were hoping that he could replace Anthony as the team’s primary scorer, and they were banking on his potential to make the trade work in their favor. It hasn’t quite worked out that way as injuries have mounted. He missed half of the 2011/12 season and the entire 2013/14 season.

Gallinari’s numbers in Denver are:

2010/11: 14.7 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 1.6 APG. His slash line was .412/.370/.772.
2011/12: 14.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 2.7 APG. His slash line was .414/.328/.871.
2012/13: 16.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 2.5 APG. His slash line was .418/.373/.822.
2013/14: Missed entire season.

It remains to be seen how Gallinari will fare this coming season, but it’s hard to count on him as a cornerstone thanks to his injury history. He originally came into the league with a history of back problems, which slowed him his first season in New York. Denver better hope he can return to form, seeing as they signed him to a four-year, $42MM extension in January of 2012.

Wilson Chandler was the other significant piece the Nuggets acquired, and he has also been bitten by the injury bug during his time in Denver. He missed half of the 2011/12 season when he signed with a team in China during the NBA lockout. Since Chandler didn’t have an out-clause in his contract, he couldn’t return to the NBA until after the Chinese playoffs ended. Once he was permitted to return to the NBA, he signed a five-year, $37MM deal with the Nuggets, but Chandler only appeared in eight games that season before suffering a labral tear in his left hip.

Chandler’s numbers since arriving in Denver are:

2010/11: 12.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 1.6 APG. His slash line was .419/.347/.810.
2011/12: 9.4 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 2.1 APG. His slash line was .392/.250/.833.
2012/13: 13.0 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 1.3 APG. His slash line was .462/.413/.793.
2013/14: 13.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 1.8 APG. His slash line was .416/.348/.724.

Prior to the trade, Raymond Felton was enjoying a strong first season in New York, thriving under then-coach Mike D’Antoni‘s system. In 54 games, Felton averaged 17.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and 9.0 APG.

Once he arrived in Denver, Felton was relegated to backing up Ty Lawson, which didn’t sit well with Felton. After the season he requested a trade, and was dealt as part of a three team trade with Dallas and Portland during the 2011 NBA Draft. In return the Nuggets received Andre Miller and the rights to the No. 26 pick Jordan Hamilton.

Miller played well during his 2+ seasons in Denver, averaging 8.4 PPG and 5.3 APG. He was dealt to the Wizards last season after a falling out with coach Brian Shaw over his playing time.

Hamilton was also dealt last season, being sent to the Rockets in exchange for Aaron Brooks. During his time in Denver, Hamilton averaged 5.5 PPG and 2.7 RPG. Brooks played well after he trade, appearing in 29 games, and putting up 11.9 PPG and 5.2 APG. Brooks signed a one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Bulls this summer.

Felton hasn’t enjoyed the same success that he did under D’Antoni. His one season in Portland was marred by Felton arriving out-of-shape after the lockout ended, and he averaged 11.4 PPG and 6.5 APG during the 2011/12 season.

That was Felton’s only season in Rip City. He was sent back to the Knicks in a sign-and-trade deal along with Kurt Thomas in exchange for Jared Jeffries; Dan Gadzuric; Kostas Papanikolaou; Georgios Printezis; and a 2016 second round pick. Felton’s new deal with New York was for four years and $14.86MM with a fourth-year player option.

Felton’s second stint in New York came to an end when he was dealt along with Tyson Chandler to the Mavericks in exchange for Jose Calderon; Samuel Dalembert; Wayne Ellington; Shane Larkin; and the No. 34 (Cleanthony Early) and No. 51 (Thanasis Antetikounmpo) picks in the 2014 NBA Draft.

The Nuggets used the 2012 second-rounder they obtained in the Anthony trade to select Quincy Miller at No. 38. Miller hasn’t done much to impress in his short career, averaging 3.1 PPG and 1.5 RPG in two seasons.

The 2013 second-round pick they obtained was sent to the Magic as part of the Dwight Howard to the Lakers trade, which was then used to select Romero Osby. The 2014 first rounder Denver received from the Knicks was also packaged in this deal, which the Magic later used as part of the 2014 draft-night swap that netted Orlando the rights to Elfrid Payton.

As a part of the Howard deal, the Nuggets received Andre Iguodala, who averaged 13.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 5.4 APG in his one season in Denver. Iguodala was shipped to the Warriors in a sign-and-trade after the 2012/13 season for Randy Foye. Foye had a decent season last year, averaging 13.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 3.5 APG for the Nuggets.

The final player that Denver received from the Knicks was the one who almost scuttled the deal, Timofey Mozgov. The talks almost broke down when New York was adamant at first about not including the 7’1″ center. Mozgov has always been viewed as a player with upside, but he has never quite realized that potential. Mozgov did have his best season as a pro last year, averaging 9.4 PPG and 6.4 RPG. He is 28 years old though, and he may have already reached his peak as a player.

The Nuggets also received Kosta Koufos from the Wolves in the deal. In his two seasons in Denver, Koufos averaged 6.8 PPG and 6.1 RPG. He signed a three-year, $9MM extension on January 25, 2012, but was traded last June to the Grizzlies for Darrell Arthur and the rights to the No. 55 Joffrey Lauvergne. During the 2013/14 season with Denver, Arthur averaged 5.9 PPG and 3.1 RPG.

The Anthony trade hasn’t quite worked out for either side like they had hoped. ‘Melo has put up fantastic individual numbers in New York, but the sheer amount of assets the franchise gave up to acquire him surely set them back. It could set New York back even further depending on how the draft picks work out in 2016 since Denver has the right to switch places with the Knicks.

For the Nuggets, the team played better after Anthony departed, making up for the loss of their star by having exceptional depth and athleticism on their roster. But injuries have certainly taken their toll, with both Gallinari and Chandler missing significant time.

Looking back at this trade, I’d have to call it a draw. New York got the best player in the deal, but Anthony hasn’t been able to improve the franchise’s fortunes yet. He just turned 30, and the near-max contract he just signed will limit the Knicks’ future options in constructing a winning roster around him before he hits his decline phase.

The Nuggets’ depth has translated into wins when everyone was healthy, but it’s rare in this league to win a championship without at least one star player on the roster, an asset the Nuggets do not currently possess. If they can remain injury-free, they should be a playoff team next season, but it’s doubtful that they can overtake the upper-echelon teams in the brutal Western Conference.

Kevin Love certainly shares some comparisons with Anthony, seeing as he also takes heat for not making those around him better, as well as being a poor defender. The big difference though is Anthony didn’t join a team with players of LeBron or Kyrie Irving‘s talent level. Time will tell if Love can silence his critics, which ‘Melo is still trying to do.

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