Each week, we’ll ask our stable of scribes to weigh in on the three most important NBA topics of the day — and then give you a chance to step on the scale, too, in the comments below.
The ‘Melo deal: Who/what comes out the big loser in all that maneuvering?
[Editor's note: That question, and the following answers, were submitted before the Nets' stunning deal to get Deron Williams from Utah on Wednesday.]
David Aldridge: Gotta be Jersey. The Big Russian has swung and missed at LeBron, STAT, Boozer and now Anthony, and has to put all of his eggs in the 2012 free agent basket. Big gamble. Prokhorov could well get the last laugh; with a hard cap he may wind up with two or three stars for a fraction of what his opponents have had to pay in the past year. But that’s way too much iffin’ for anyone to feel comfortable with, having to sell season tickets and suites for Brooklyn in early 2012–before those free agents commit. The Nets may be forced to overpay, either via trade or free agency, to get the first star in place, and hope the dominoes fall their way later.
Steve Aschburner: New Jersey got spun around and turned inside out by all the maneuvering for Anthony. Loved Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov went he drew his stern line in the sand – somebody had to stop, or at least stall, the madness at that point – but his line was just that: sand. His team got involved again and ultimately just expedited the deal that delivered Anthony to New York. The fallout – how rattled some Nets players got by all the speculation – undercut whatever they were hoping to accomplish this season on the court.
Fran Blinebury: Don’t know that anyone came out “a big loser,” unless you count fans in cities other than NY, LA, Miami & Chicago, who have to be feeling like they are living in mere bus stations that the superstars will pass through on the way to their destinations. While the earlier Nets deal that was on the table was better, the Nuggets eventually got a decent package in return for Carmelo. The Knicks didn’t lose, but to mix sports metaphors, they didn’t hit a home run either.
Art Garcia: The ‘Melo Man is getting what he wanted all along, the big money and the bigger stage of Broadway. Denver gets some nice young pieces and usable draft picks to rebuild with, and just as importantly avoids the embarrassing fate of Cleveland and Toronto. The ones getting it in the shorts now, as they have for the last seven months, are those too often are forgotten in all of this. Nuggets fans today feel like it’s been a wasted season. Not only did they lose a franchise player — those don’t come around too often — they also had a hometown favorite (Chauncey Billups) get snatched away. Less than two years ago they were tearing the lid off the Pepsi Can in the Western Conference finals. Cheering on ping-pong balls can’t be as fun.
Scott Howard-Cooper: The Nets. All that buildup when Mikhail Prokhorov bought the team, only to miss out on the big free agents in the summer and now to miss out on Carmelo Anthony despite a trade package that was easily better than what the Knicks gave up. Anthony obviously wouldn’t commit to signing with New Jersey, a slap.
Shaun Powell: Not sure there are any losers. The Nets had no shot at Carmelo, and the gazillion reports that had him going to Jersey were bogus, because Melo wasn’t going to sign a contract extension. The Knicks got the next coming of Bernard King and the Nuggets were able to grab something while they could for their star and avoid a Cavaliers-like fate. Perhaps the loser was Timofey Mozgov? Can he get any good Russian food in LoDo?
John Schuhmann: The Nets. Not only did they get rejected by Carmelo, but in pursuing him, they’ve completely devalued both Devin Harris (who has been disinterested for much of the last couple of months) and Troy Murphy (who’s been sitting at home since December). Harris was an All-Star two years ago and Murphy averaged a double-double each of the last two seasons. Now, the Nets feel like they have to trade both, and they might not get anything of value for either.
Sekou Smith: The New Jersey Nets‘ locker room (and I‘ll refrain from naming them since they‘ve all been through that enough already). At one time or another every player on the roster was rumored to be involved in the ‘Melo deal that never was. For a team already teetering on the brink of disaster this seven-month affair could not have helped. Even worse is the fact that in the final analysis, the Nets clearly never had a shot at landing Anthony (no matter how many times it was written that a deal was close or whatever). In the meantime, the Nets found a way to completely devalue an entire roster with lackluster performance after lackluster performance, due in large part to the endless speculation that said team would be no longer at any moment. A playoff bid certainly wasn’t in the plans for the Nets, but they could have been something more than what we’ve seen so far this season.
I guess calling the Nets a loser in all this may have been a bit premature, as the Deron Williams deal may having a much bigger impact on the future of the team than if they had got Anthony. I think Brooke Lopez is probably one of the happiest about this, as he will probably see an increase in scoring being setup by Williams.
Funny now, the Russian made an even better deal.
So the loosers are…. well who is? Denver got talent, the Jazz got talent, Knicks got 2 Superstars and can shine (Championship can wait) and the Nets get a Toppointguard for the moment. So lets call it even 
The are the losers Jazz dang it!!! And it sucks!
the biggest loser huh? If you really want to look at it the right way NY is the biggest loser in the sense that it has lost many of there key players and back ups. Sure Melo is the man along with Stat but whose going to back that up? I am sure now it will make a big difference to how long one or the other can sit specially when Stat gets into foul trouble. As far as being the loser in this all everyone pretty much made out with the exception of NJ in all of there “tried” dealings. However they did in fact pick up a great PG in this whole process. Now they need to make some moves to fill in the gaps of play finishers with the PG play maker. In the long run now it will be all eye son the East Coast battles to see which one of the superstar teams will rise and shine.
First, 2 “super stars” – amar’e & melo – do not make a team. I remember when allen iverson came to the nuggets. My 1st thought was, ‘oh boy, denver,s guaranteed 60 points per game!’ So what?! Second, although I have a very high opinion of melo’s talent, & just as much for c. billups – I have felt for 2 yrs. that denver was wasting way too much talent on their roster by puttung it all on melo. So now look what happens in the 1st game w/o melo & billups: the remaining nuggets CRUSHED a tough opponent in the grizzlies, with (I don’t have the actual figures here) about 26 for j.r. smith, 21 for afflalo, 16(?) for andersen, 21 for ty lawson, 12 or 14 for nene, etc. If Karl & the owners don’t mess with it (fat chance, huh!), their current roster could well outperform the earlier “superstar” one the rest of the season! I’m not kidding!!
Knicks lost and thats a fact
First I think they all fare even, except for maybe the utah jazz. The Knick first and foremost, are getting that top superstar who they feel like they were desperately needing, this is just another piece to the puzzle. Gallinari I feel was a good player, but he is very over rated, people put to much hype in him. Chandler to me is much better of a player. The only person I believe the Knicks for the short term is gonna regret trading is Raymond Felton. Well the Denver I believe did good in the aspect of how they faired in there situation with the melo drama. They acquired very promising young talent. No as for the Nets trade, im very surprised. The Nets did extremely well, I believe the Nets-Nuggets trade talks could’ve possibly been a decoy to cause the Knicks to trade more of their young talent. Though even know the Nets have a Acquired Williams, I believe its gonna take them some time to get to a decent playoffs contender. Williams had a better surrounding cast in Utah then compared to his new team New Jersey. So I believe the only losers is the Jazz, because they go from a playoff contender to a rebuilding stage, for I don’t exactly know, but it seems like no apparent reason.
First and foremost, for all those who claim the Knicks are losers in there acquisition of Carmelo, your’ll gotta be thinking short term. First I believe the trade for Carmelo was the right thing, and the reason I say that is because carmelo is just another piece to a gigantic puzzle. For those who say the denver nuggets are a better team without carmelo because of one game against a team that is not a great, team, I can bet you the nugget lose more then they win for the rest of the season. Second I believe gallinari is way overrated. So many people put to much stock and hype in a player whose career high in points per game is 17, and he isn’t a great rebounder or distributer. And he doesn’t even draw double team, and is inconsistent. Even chandler is better overall player compared to him. But I believe in the short term, the player the Knicks may regret having to trade away is going to turn out to be raymond felton. As for the Denver Nuggets, I believe they did better then expected, given their situation; they acquired several young talents, as well as several number 1 draft picks. Now for the Net, I never expect that trade to go down. Nobody even knew Deron William was on the market. It makes it seem as the Nets-Nuggets trade talks were just a ploy to jack up the asking price for Carmelo. Yet even with William, the Nets I believe aren’t a decent playoff contender. Some will say but he made the Utah Jazz better. True but the Utah Jazz had a better surrounding cast of players as well as coaches. Yet the Nets are still on they way of becoming true playoff contenders. As for the Jazz, they are the true losers in the trade or yets just say year or years to come. Cause not only did they lose their hall of fame coach, who might I add will be hard to replace, but they also traded away their superstar point guard for devin harris and derrick favors. So now they go from a well know winning organization, and might I also add a playoff contender to a rebuilding stage for no apparent reason. So you see why the Jazz are the true losers. And for the belief that 2 superstars don’t make a team, well thats true to a certain extent, yet a person has to understand the reason for having 2 superstar on one team is to make the surrounding cast better, because the superstars are most likely gonna attract double team. Their also there to knock down those very important shots in close games . You can’t name one championship team, where you didn’t having 2 players playing at a superstar caliber level. And for the person who used carmelo and iverson as an example, you should know that iverson was not at the prime of his career, he was on the down fall. Why do you think philedelphia traded him. Carmelo and amare are at there prime or are coming close to it.
This is what I see in the distant future..
CP3 to New York and D12 to NJ (only if Deron Williams stays) in 2012..
With the way both of these players’ teams are going, its quite clear that theyll have a foot out the door come summer time.
so the nets are the big losers ?? if thats the case…. please let me lose another deal if it means getting a superstar back via trade…. love how this blindsided everyone…..this just proves that you should never doubt a man whos all in with his billions.. he’s not playing around…. so the big winner is…… Mikhail Prokhorov
Amar’e Stoudemire is an incomparable player in the paint, can score in any situations and combining with Carmelo Anthony is what I was waiting for. They could make it but of course they need time to play like or better than anyone else in the league. Also I hope to see Chris Paul, Mr CP3, wearing New York’s Jersey. But one question, What will Chauncey Billups do if CP3 comes? Will he remain in New York and go to the bench or will just be traded to the Hornets?
Anyway if CP3 comes, they can dominate in the EAST and in the NBA as well.
I dont think there were any losers. the only way anyone couldve lost would’ve been if the nuggets would’ve kept Melo just to lose him in the offseason. Same goes for the Jazz. And to say the Knicks lost because they have no team is ridicilous. the got better at the small forward position, the point guard, and they got a good role player in Corey Brewer. There was no way they could win with the team they had, and if you ask me this is the time for Bill Walker to work his way into the rotation and shine.
The Nets were only talked about so Denver could get more. I give it to Melo for keeping his trap shut to allow the team he was leaving to get something. Way more class the Labron James.
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we will see who the loser team when day play. we can not say NY lost there supporting player and that may hunt them because even they lost their supporting player they gain a pure SF melo and a great PG billups, for the nets day acuired williams a talented PG and they have lopez you will see what he can do for the nets so we can not not saywho is the loser now we need to how they will fit in on their team and wait for the result
Can we please get off the first and foremost bandwagon please it is killing my ears. I think Melo said it best, any GM in the league would be happy to have Amare and Melo side by side, to build a team around…the beautiful thing about the Knicks is that they don’t necessarily have to add another superstar to the mix because rather they can add good level talent and build a championship team. You’ve got the best scorer in the league in Carmelo, his ability to score from everywhere on the court is unmatched, Kobe might be a distant second, not to mention his undeniability to ge to the rim and finish on either side, Melo is a proven physical talent and doesn’t mind the contact, just check those countries that played against him in the World Championships a few years back….And just a little FYI about when Iverson came to Denver, he and Carmelo both averaged close to 25 ppg, so that null and void. Sure Denver may have alot of talent, they’ve always had it, but a lot of teams had talent, check the Lakers in the late 90′s when they had Shaq Daddy, Jones, Van Exel, Ceballos, young Kobe, Campbell, I mean the list goes on and on…it wasn’t until they got real and brought in that Veteran flavor and grew up that they won. So the question is do you want just want to make the playoffs everywhere and take the Lakers or whatever team is on top to the 6 games in the first or second round, or do you want to win championships?? I will take the Knicks route, the Bulls route(well almost, Boozer isn’t really primetime to me), and the Miami route, with great players you can always figure out the rest because it Superstars make it easier. Bad attitudes a poor decisions plague Denver just like it plagues Atlanta and a slew of other teams in the league right now. Deron Williams in Jersey, hard to see that last. And how is Utah the winner with Favors…the next Karl Malone?? I’m sorry, in this rookie class there is Blake Griffin…and then the field…Mr Favors didn’t even manage a REBOUND in the Soph-Rookie game, but he’s the next Karl Malone…not to mention they bring him into a logjam, because Jefferson and Milsap all play the same position he plays, and Kirilenko on occasion due to matchups. Favors isn’t the best rookie in his class and all this talk about upside, Blake Griffin, Landry Fields, John Wall, have upside and they’ve played well beyond their years so far, Favors at 6ppg 5rpg, how is he supposed to improve when he’s 3 on the depth chart, without a PG…just saying.
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