Carmelo Anthony fits In Los Angeles

Carmelo Anthony wants out of New York. Maybe. It depends on who you ask and what they’re willing to tell you. And New York doesn’t want Carmelo Anthony. Possibly. Again, you have to ask the right people and they have to be under truth serum. The problem is, no one really wants Carmelo Anthony. At least that part is something that is universally agreed upon, no drugs needed.

For the sake of this column, let’s say that teams did want Carmelo. That every GM in the league is beating down Phil Jackson’s door for a chance to acquire a former scoring champion and a guy who gets 20 on a nightly basis. Granted, these teams aren’t willing to pay a high price for Melo, because even in fantasy land, they aren’t dumb. But they’re at least interested. Which team makes the most sense for Carmelo?

The answer is almost too obvious. So obvious that it scares me and makes me believe that I’m a crazy person for suggesting it: the Los Angeles Clippers. Here’s my hypothetical deal:

Melo to the Clippers. Wesley Johnson, Jamal Crawford and Paul Pierce to the Knicks.

Without sacrificing a single starter, the Clippers can land Melo. Before you get on your “The Knicks would never do this trade” soap box, please remember the following: this isn’t about the Knicks. They could likely get more than a declining Jamal Crawford, an average at best Wesley Johnson, a retired Paul Piece, and whatever draft picks the Clippers have that the ESPN Trade Machine doesn’t allow me to use. This is about Carmelo and the team he ultimately goes to. And Knicks fans should just be happy that they found a taker for him.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Carmelo would love this trade because La La would love this trade. She gets to go to Los Angeles and mingle with all of the famous people that want nothing to do with New York. For Melo, priority number one is keeping his wife happy, and Los Angeles would keep her happy. Carmelo would also love this trade because he would be on a team with Banana Boat Buddy Chris Paul. They could low key get together, with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, beg Dwyane to keep causing trouble in Chicago to the point where the Bulls release him so the Cavs sign him, and then dream about a Banana Boat Finals.

But why does this trade make sense for the Clippers? Well, their starting lineup would be Paul, J.J. Redick, Carmelo, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan. That’s a strong starting lineup. Just good enough to lose by single digits to the Warriors. Their bench would be Austin Rivers and Doc’s other children, but they could have at least two of their big four on the court at the same for all 48-minutes and still beat plenty of teams.

Maybe you don’t think Carmelo “fits” with the Clippers. Then maybe you realize that the Clippers haven’t had a legitimate starting small forward since Corey Maggette. Sure, the ball stops with Carmelo, but let’s not act like the Clippers are the Harlem Globetrotters with their ball movement. Paul just barks at everyone to get in the right position, and then he passes it when he thinks he’ll get an assist.

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Doc Rivers is a smart guy, he’ll know how to utilize Carmelo and play to his strengths. He’ll run some isolation and post-up plays for him with DeAndre and Blake in the game so when Melo misses, they can get the rebound, he’ll lose his voice yelling at Melo for not playing defense, and he’ll use him as a small ball four, where he’ll thrive as Knicks fans wonder, “why didn’t we think of this?”

Acquiring Carmelo would almost certainly get them out of the second round. Until everyone gets hurt in the playoffs and they’re left starting Austin and Brothers.