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New York Knicks: Five reasons Carmelo Anthony trade talks should be paused

By Maxwell Ogden

AUBURN HILLS, MI - MARCH 11: Carmelo Anthony #7 of the New York Knicks handles the ball during a game against the Detroit Pistons on March 11, 2017 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images)
AUBURN HILLS, MI - MARCH 11: Carmelo Anthony #7 of the New York Knicks handles the ball during a game against the Detroit Pistons on March 11, 2017 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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DALLAS – APRIL 5: Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley of the Dallas Mavericks stand on court against the Orlando Magic on April 5, 2005 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Copyright 2005 NBAE (Photo By Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
DALLAS – APRIL 5: Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley of the Dallas Mavericks stand on court against the Orlando Magic on April 5, 2005 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Copyright 2005 NBAE (Photo By Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images) /

3. The Michael Finley Role

The New York Knicks are building around Kristaps Porzingis. Carmelo Anthony may still be the better player, but he’s a 33-year-old perimeter player with declining athleticism, and Porzingis is a 22-year-old hybrid whose body is filling out.

If the Porzingis comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki are going to continue, however, then he’ll need a Michael Finley to help ease him into his No. 1 scoring role.

For those unfamiliar with Nowitzki’s career history, he finished his second NBA season with an average of 17.5 points per game—comparable to Porzingis’ 18.1 in 2016-17. Finley averaged a team-high 22.6 points per game, which is almost identical to Anthony’s 22.4.

During Nowitzki’s third season, he led the Mavericks in scoring for the first time at 21.8 points per game—just over Finley’s 21.5.

The important note is that, while Nowitzki led Dallas in scoring, Finley led it in field goal attempts at 18.9 to Dirk’s 15.2. Finley continued to be a high-quality scorer for Dallas for another four seasons, which alleviated a significant measure of pressure from Nowitzki.

Anthony is a better scorer than Finley was, but the parallel can be drawn and the value can be found in having a high-level scorer to complement a budding young star.

For what it’s worth: Dallas won an average of 56 games per season with Nowitzki and Finley between 2000-01 and 2004-05.

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