A Tale of Two Trades

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. It was the end of a life-long saga, it was the end of a week-long surprise. We had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going to heaven, we were all going directly the other way. In short, it was Carmelo and Deron, it was Axl and Thom.

It’s the best of times in Manhattan. It’s the best of times in the house of Melo and LaLa. Oddly enough, it’s also the best of times in Denver. Denver can move on. They have played a tiresome role throughout this saga. I would like to liken them unto the studio engineer who got stuck working on “Chinese Democracy” with Axl Rose. A thankless job in more ways than one. But that’s not where the similarities end between Carmelo to the Knicks and “Chinese Democracy”. Just like Axl’s final opus, we knew it was coming for so long that, when it finally happened, we didn’t even care. Collectively, as sports fans, we were more relieved that it was over. You can see this relief on the faces of Nuggets fans as well as the players. I don’t think the fans will remember this trade beyond the end of the season, much in the same way we don’t remember that “Chinese Democracy” finally came out.

Across the river, something different was happening. New Jersey somehow landed a guy who was candidate numero uno for the NBA’s version of a franchise tag. This was about as unexpected as Radiohead dropping a new album just days after announcing it (and then releasing it a day earlier than that). The world seemed to stop and jaws dropped when Williams got traded. Likewise when ‘King of Limbs” hit. It consumed everyone with ears to hear and twitters to tweet. But that’s not where the similarities end between Deron to the Nets and “King of Limbs”. Nobody knew what to make of either happening. We figured “King of Limbs” was a big deal, but opinions were across the board. It was too much to digest without fair warning. Same with Deron to the Nets. It had to be a good thing. He’s the best PG in the league going to the richest owner in the league and eventually to Brooklyn. But it didn’t seem to instantly energize the Nets. Or their fanbase. But it should be a big deal. I think ultimately both “King of Limbs” and Deron as a Net will matter and we will figure out how to understand them. It’s going to take longer than a week or two, heck, it might even take a couple years.

When we can finally wrap our heads around Deron the Net and “King of Limbs”, we will realize that Deron as a Net is to Carmelo as a Knick, just like “King of Limbs” is to “Chinese Democracy”. One will have a lasting impact, and the other will become a catch phrase for players refusing to sign extension and instead wanting to be traded. That’s an incredibly long phrase that desperately needs some help.
I can’t wait for next season when Dwight Howard starts pulling a Melo. Wake me when that’s over too.

*

Baseball has its asterisk. Even though I have my differences with the idea of the asterisk, it is force fed to me and the rest of the world. Apparently if you take certain substances you will be better at sports but if you take other substances you will also be better at sports but subject to banishment if anyone finds out. Right. Sounds perfectly reasonable.

Guns N Roses made some legendary rock. Mixed in with that they made some pretty crappy stuff too. They then faded out, farmed out their band memebers while Axl tried desperately to keep the name alive. He brought in other big names like Dave Navarro and Buckethead to replace Slash. While the talent may have kind of been there the music was definitely not. Anything from The Spaghetti Incident and after should be clearly marked with an asterisk, warning fans of tampering.

In 2001-2002 Isiah Thomas took over the Knicks and proceeded to make them a terrible team. Not just your run of the mill terrible, but epically terrible. They couldn't play defense and only occasionally could play offense. They drafted like they had their head you know where. Subsequently all kinds of records started to fall while teams played the Knicks. They now have a good coach, some direction in their franchise (even if it is about as wishful as my NBA dreams) but they still don't have great talent or anyone who plays defense.

So I decree, from this moment backward and forward, that ALL RECORDS SET AGAINST THE KNICKS IN THE LAST 7 YEARS BE MARKED WITH AN ASTERISK REMINDING FUTURE GENERATIONS THAT THIS TEAM WAS TO THE NBA WHAT P.E.D.s WERE TO MARK MCGWIRE AND SAMMY SOSA.

By the way...
Did anyone see Carmelo almost get a triple double on the Thunder, and set the scoring record or a visiting opponent at the Ford Center?