There is plenty of discussion going on right now in New York centered around the topic of whether or not Carmelo Anthony should shut himself down for the rest of the regular season. Right now, he’s dealing with a lingering knee injury but it’s not debilitating. He can gut it out if necessary but what’s really the point? Here are a few reasons why Melo shutting it down would be a good thing for both him and the franchise:
The Season Is Already Lost In Terms Of The Playoffs
No, it’s not premature. This is a reasonable statement to make: the Knicks season is done. They have the worst record in the league through 39 games at 5-34. Even if by some miracle they were able to play .500 ball the rest of the way, which is not a reasonable assumption given how listless they’ve been of late, they’d win 28 games. As of this moment, the Miami Heat are the eight seed in the Eastern Conference and given their current winning percentage, they project to finish with 34 wins. In other words, no matter how optimistic of a Knicks fan you are, the season is over.
Since that ship has sailed, Anthony may as well pack it in for that reason alone. There is no shame in it; everyone knows Anthony is the real deal. And for him to overextend his body in a series of meaningless games makes no sense. We’re not talking about a young guy anymore. He’ll be 31 in May and the Knicks will only have a few more seasons of him in his prime. We have all seen Kobe Bryant’s body get worn down by accumulated wear and tear, so why drive Melo down that same road?
Getting The Number One Pick In The 2015 Draft
If the Knicks can’t make the playoffs, the natural follow-up for the team is to tank the season so that it maximizes its chances of being able to get the top pick in the next draft. If the Knicks get a number one or number two player, they can truly begin a rebuilding process and make their way up the ladder.
Given all the money the team has saved with the recent sending of J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Knicks are wisely setting aside their resources for the future, not the present. Therefore, a tanking strategy makes perfect sense and it is in line with everything else the Knicks are doing. If they start trotting out Anthony, the fact of the matter is that they’re going to win more games with him in the lineup and he’s going to get in the way of their strategy. They need as many ping pong balls to bounce in their favor as possible, which means that keeping Anthony sidelined is the ideal play here.
The Knicks Haven’t Been Able To Implement Their System Under Fisher and Jackson
The other big reason for Melo to sit is that the Knicks really haven’t been doing the kinds of things team president Phil Jackson and his handpicked coach, Derek Fisher, have wanted to do. You have not seen the Knicks run Jackson’s triangle offense the way it was intended to be run. The Knicks have run a lot of standard sets and have had trouble settling on a consistent offensive system. This raises the point: if Melo is not running the triangle, why is he drifting along in this in-between kind of system? There’s a need for him to start fresh next season, when Fisher and the rest of the organization can really get behind the triangle and commit to it.
See What The Knicks Have In Their Youngsters
There’s no question that this is a Knicks team that’s bereft of talent, which is how they got into this predicament in the first place. And while they’re going to tank, they may as well see what they have on their roster by giving extended minutes to players who need it. Shane Larkin is a former first round pick, as are Tim Hardaway Jr. and Cole Aldrich, and the team is high on second round pick Cleanthony Early. Melo needs to stay on the bench and let these guys as well as others develop. Maybe the Knicks will find that they actually have another building block on the roster.
