Carmelo?

[TheMegaSage]

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=krt56sj

Three team trade:

• Raptors get Carmelo and Plumlee.
• Knicks get D Will, Amir (sad face), and Raptors 2015 & 2016 first round pick.
• Nets get DeRozan and Fields.

The whys for each team:

• Raptors - Star player, championship contender?
• Knicks - "Star" point guard and a player that makes everybody around him better.
• Nets - Expiring contract + an all star on a (very) decent contract, plus they shed 4.8 million (which is like 8? million less in luxury tax.

Brilliant, or insane?

[Emanpop]

Doubt Brooklyn would ever part with Plumlee. Melo would take a considerable part of our cap going forward leaving us with little flexibility. 20-25mill is a crazy amount to pay 1 player.

[TheWaterboy]

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=krt56sj

Three team trade:

• Raptors get Carmelo and Plumlee.
• Knicks get D Will, Amir (sad face), and Raptors 2015 & 2016 first round pick.
• Nets get DeRozan and Fields.

The whys for each team:

• Raptors - Star player, championship contender?
• Knicks - "Star" point guard and a player that makes everybody around him better.
• Nets - Expiring contract + an all star on a (very) decent contract, plus they shed 4.8 million (which is like 8? million less in luxury tax.

Brilliant, or insane?

Insane. Never mind that Melo will play more hero ball and provide less defense than Derozan does on the court. Never mind that we are trading a player still on the upswing for a player who will probably be on the downswing in a few years. Never mind that, if you take the all-star-for-all-star part of the swap out, the Raptors are trading Amir and two late first rounders for Plumlee.

If the trade isn't insane for any of the reasons I've cited above, it is for this reason: on a team full of young or young-ish players (TRoss, JV, PPat, Greivis, James Johnson), Kyle Lowry and Demar Derozan are providing fantastic leadership - keeping the entire team focused, playing with heart, and playing as a team. If you trade Derozan out and Melo in, you're switching out a team leader and great example, and bringing in a player who signs for more money and attention in NYC rather than where the best basketball opportunity would have been (Chicago), and then grumbles less than half a season in about not playing in a winning environment.

On this team or any team, I'm not willing to trade for Melo unless I know for a fact that I can engage in a months-long battle of wills against Melo, complete with benching and isolation from the rest of the team as needed, and come out on top. Even on championship-level teams like the Spurs and the Grizzlies, where there is strong teamwork, great focus, and in the case of the Spurs, an existing don't-mess-with-me Alpha Dog, I think it still takes a minimum of a couple of months to get the Knickleheadedness out of him before he'll be worth anything the Knicks will be able to get in return for him.

[DanH]

Yeah, no thanks. I'd be willing to buy low on Melo with that team in turmoil. But giving up 2 firsts, DD and Amir is not buying low.