Here's the breakdown of the last month and a half for the Knicks: the team was 7-1 without star Carmelo Anthony last month, and have now lost 8 of 10 since he's returned from a groin injury. As has been stated again and again the last few weeks, you can't blame the team's dysfunction solely on Melo—but then again, a definite rift has formed according to the Times: "The Knicks are not a unified team. On one side is Anthony. On the other is everyone else."
Adding to the chaos: Melo has reportedly told a confidant he would prefer to be traded before Thursday's NBA deadline, according to the Post. So are the Knicks doomed to waste all their talent this season? Should they trade Melo and get it over with?
The Times notes that the joy that sprung up around MSG with the emergence of Jeremy Lin last month—both among fans and players—has faded, and much of that is due to Anthony's need to run the offense through him: "The causes are varied, and Anthony is not solely to blame. But multiple people with ties to the team cite a growing divide between Anthony and his teammates that is threatening to derail the season." Adding to the woes, Melo's "shooters mentality" is worsened by the fact that he is shooting a career-low 40 percent from the field: "For the past 10 games, the Knicks have been demonstrably worse when Anthony plays. With Anthony on the court, the Knicks are scoring at a rate of 97.7 points per 100 possessions. When he is on the bench, that rating soars to 109.8."
Sources told ESPN that coach Mike D'Antoni has also lost the locker room: "The players like Mike as a person. They think he's a good guy. But he doesn't have the respect of the team anymore...Half the team is trying to do what coach says and the other half is doing something different." According to the Post, Anthony and D’Antoni spoke yesterday in an attempt to reconcile their differences and made headway—but their source also says that Anthony is upset because he had been assured that D'Antoni would be gone this year.
Management sounds split about what to do—but according to the Daily News, some MSG execs think that with the emergence of Lin as a superstar (and the revenue the team has made from him), it makes business sense (as well as basketball sense) to sever ties with Anthony. But their source added that Knicks owner James Dolan doesn't intend to trade anyone by tomorrow: "He said it's up to the coach to figure it out."
It seems highly unlikely that the Knicks can package Anthony and Tyson Chandler for the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu, which means the Knicks' chemistry woes will continue for the rest of the season. The News points out that it would be a win-win for Dolan: "He gets to bring in a box-office draw and the best center in the game, while denying the Nets a chance to put Howard in their new Brooklyn arena. No Howard for the Nets equals no Deron Williams." Doesn't Dolan know that the NBA and ESPN have already future-traded Howard to the Brooklyn Nets?
