So, Kevin Love decided to go all in and is signing a long-term deal to stay with Cleveland. He had his pow-wow with LeBron who no doubt translated his tweet this year when he wrote that Love shouldn’t worry about fitting in but should “fit out.” Hmmm, seems perfectly clear to me. So, why is that good for the Knicks?
Carmelo is already dying. None of the top free agents want to come to NY to play with him. Love will find that he still doesn’t “fit out” after this season and his agent and others will be whispering in his ear that he needs to be the man and not a complimentary piece. That will enable Phil Jackson to swap Melo for Love at the end of next season. LeBron will want his buddy Melo playing with him who at age 32 will finally be aching for that championship ring. Love is younger and can be a major piece to win in NY. Equal salary more or less. SU says it’s a perfect fit. One year from now you can congratulate SU as being right – yet again.
Note that no-one wants to play with Kobe in LA either.
David West who has been rumored coming to the Knicks put that one to bed as we read this comment on Twitter: “West said the rumors about him going to the Knicks are ridiculous; he wants to be with a contender; the Knicks don’t qualify.” On to Plan B. SU says the perfect storm is that Monta Ellis is still out there. He puts the “hog” in “ball hog.” How smart was Golden State trading Eliis and keeping Curry when they had both of them a few years ago? Championships are won and lost on those types of decisions. The most fun scenario would be that the Knicks sign Ellis in a desperation move to appease Melo, Jackson leaves and Isiah Thomas becomes President. Then it’s 7 years of famine in the waste land.
SU also saw that Nik Stauskus was traded by Sacramento to the Sixers. I would like to see a study of how undergraduates have fared in the NBA in terms of longevity, career earnings, productivity. I know many of them come from nothing and want the money because the risk of major injury is out there in college. But so many guys get their $1 million rookie deal and then just flounder and drift. Adam Silver and the NBA are considering a 2-year minimum out of high school now before kids can play in the NBA. That would be a good thing.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
don’t hold your breath waiting for the Cavs to trade Love for Melo
Dave, never say never. Year #1 wasn’t exactly what Love thought it would be and LeBron will really need to make the extra effort this year for Love to feel loved. And LeBron gets to play with who LeBron wants to play with. But you are our Cavs expert so you deserve respect. We shall see…
Some other random thoughts:
The Love resigning got me thinking – How can the Timberwolves be as bad as they are with all of the names on their roster?
Aldridge and Kobe “didn’t quite gel” especially when Kobe was apparently explaining the synergy between them would be like how it was between Kobe and Gasol. Why didn’t he just explain that the synergy would be like how it was between Lizzy Borden and her parents?
As far as the Knicks – I’m racking my brain for a legitimate way out of their mess and I really just can’t see it unless it comes from a lot of the younger players suddenly finding magic in the triangle.
I’ll be heading out soon to the beach at OBX. If you don’t hear from me anytime soon just check the news reports for “shark attacks again”.
Mark, the Knicks need to take it all down like they were doing pre-Melo trade. They had a nice nucleus forming back then. It’s hard to do it on the fly. I believe that management has under-estimated the fans’ patience to rebuild This is starting to feel like the usual piece meal approach with parts that don’t fit together.
Mark N – great thought on Kobe and “synergy”. I’m a Laker fan to the degree that SU is a Knick fan. Seems that the last best thing Kobe has done were those silly puppet commercials with LeBron!
And Sasha now Kobe is saying that he may not retire after this year. But I think the Lakers will be done with him and he will need to go elsewhere.