New York Knicks: Designing an ideal Carmelo Anthony trade to Cleveland

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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 26: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers shoots the ball against Kristaps Porzingis #6 of the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in New York City on November 26, 2016. Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Untouchables

This may not sit well with New York Knicks fans, but there’s a good chance that Kyrie Irving will be untouchable. There’s not much that New York could offer for Irving’s services, and that includes a 33-year-old Carmelo Anthony.

Knowing that we’re in the pursuit of a realistic trade, however, we’ve managed to take a gamble and hypothesize that Irving will not be one of the untouchables.

The untouchable on New York’s side is Kristaps Porzingis, and there’s no reason to even debate that. If it costs Porzingis to acquire Irving, then the Knicks should walk away before making a potentially disastrous mistake.

This is no slight on Irving, but the idea is that New York could pair him with Porzingis—not replace the organization’s most promising prospect since Patrick Ewing.

On Cleveland’s side, the only untouchable is quite obvious: LeBron James. Not only does James have a no-trade clause that he won’t waive, but he’s the best player in the NBA, and the only reason Anthony would want to go to Cleveland.

With James and Porzingis off the table, we can start exploring a trade by answering an important question: How do the finances line up?

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