Carmelo Anthony (Photo : REUTERS)
The New York Knicks, still licking their wounds after their lottery pick crashed all the way down to no.4 overall at last week's NBA Draft, might find the idea of trading Carmelo Anthony to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for no.2 overall pick in this year's draft an intriguing option if they want to kick start a youth revolution in the Big Apple.
Tasked to bring the Knicks back to its glory days, front office head Phil Jackson saw his rebuilding effort absorbed yet another setback after his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers, bumped them all the way to no.4 overall in the draft.
Just hours after the draft lottery, there are already reports indicating the Knicks' intention to shop their lottery pick in an attempt of landing an established player or moving up in the draft order. NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski even described the Knicks 'very open' to move the no.4 selection if they are presented a desirable trade offer.
In the latest blog entry on Pass-the-Pill Sportsking blog, Cameron Wilkosz discussed the Knicks' next plan and the prospect of having Carmelo Anthony traded to another team in attempt to usher a new era in the franchise with a young core.
Wilkosz believed the Knicks may still salvage the no.2 overall pick in this year and give itself a chance to select Kentucky's Karl-Anthony Towns or Duke's Jahlil Okafor by sending Anthony to the Lakers in exchange for its lottery pick and last year's no.7 pick Julius Randle.
The Sports Kings writer thinks the Lakers' eagerness to give Bryant a fitting end in his final season of his career would drive Mitch Kupchak to pull off a deal on Anthony, while the Knicks begin a full-blown rebuild and wait for their young core (Randle, no.4 and no.2 picks) to mature together in the next two or three years.
While Wilkonsz' trade proposal will surely pique the interest of both Lakers and Knicks fanbase, chance of this particular deal to ever happen is virtually impossible. True, the Lakers are desperate to reclaim its glory after missing the playoffs for two consecutive seasons, but it's hard to fathom Kupchak gambling away its precious pick for a player hampered with knee injuries all season long.
Anthony is still an All-Star caliber talent and one of the most explosive scorers in the league. However, it's unlikely the Lakers would take a bite on this deal since the years and money Anthony brings with him (The Knicks owed him roughly $100MM over the next four years) will kill the team's cap flexibility and its chance to land the likes of Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook in the future.
