Insiders say they don’t see a Cavs-Carmelo deal that would work for both sides, but…

While some may think that Carmelo Anthony wouldn’t help the Cleveland Cavaliers defeat the Golden State Warriors or that the Cavs and New York Knicks couldn’t find a deal that would work for both sides, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

According to the New York Post’s Marc Berman, some basketball insiders don’t believe that Carmelo Anthony would help the Cleveland Cavaliers defeat the Golden State Warriors. They also don’t see a trade for Anthony that would be fair for the Cavs and the New York Knicks.

Per Bobby Marks of The Vertical (h/t the New York Post):

"“In regards to this series and matching up versus Golden State, I don’t see how Carmelo would have made an impact in this series,’’ said former Nets assistant general manager Bobby Marks, who is now The Vertical’s trade analyst. “The defensive side of the ball would have been a major issue since Cleveland would not be able to hide him. Plus who does he guard? Draymond [Green]. Carmelo at this stage is best in the halfcourt. Ty Lue has made it clear that this Cleveland team is best getting up and down the floor. Plus he would have trouble scoring with [Kevin] Durant or Green on him.”"

The big flaw with Marks’ premise starts with the assumption that Anthony wouldn’t have had an impact in this series. Watching the Cavs face the Warriors, it’s clear that they need a player outside of their Big Three that can make plays for themself on the offensive end so that they can combat the firepower of the Warriors. Anthony is a 10-time All-Star, with a career scoring average of 24.8 points per game.

There’s no way that type of player wouldn’t help against the Warriors. Take a look at how Anthony fits alongside the best players the America has to offer in the Olympics and watch him become a different player.

In the Olympics, he and Kevin Durant are designated hitters. Much like Durant fits seamlessly with the Warriors because he doesn’t have to do all the heavy lifting and his teammates will find him for open shots, Anthony would thrive with the Cavs as they find him for open shots and trust him to make plays in isolation if opponents, like the Warriors, are running him off the three-point line.

He’ll need to invest in improving his physical conditioning to handle Cleveland’s up-and-down style of play for an entire season but to insinuate that Anthony can’t handle that type of play, after watching him thrive in a similar style during Olympic competition, shows another flaw in Marks’ analysis.

Speaking on the defensive end, the Cavs would use a lot of small-ball lineups with Anthony on the roster, perhaps even starting Kevin Love at center. That would leave Anthony guarding small forwards and power forwards like he always has. Against the Warriors, he’d end up guarding Durant and Draymond Green and while it’s unlikely he’d be able to stick with Durant, the Cavs could opt to use a shooting guard on James on Durant. Anthony shouldn’t have a big issue with guarding Green, who isn’t a true scoring threat.

Touching back on the small lineups the Cavs would use with Anthony in town, placing LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Love, Anthony and a shooting guard on the court at the same time gives the Cavs quite a few players who can score after posting up and as a catch-and-shoot threat. They can run a 4-out, 1-in offense or keep everyone on the perimeter for optimal floor spacing. The Warriors could have as much trouble guarding the Cavs as the Cavs could have guarding them.

The ones who disagree with Marks just question what the Cavs would have to give up for Anthony in a trade.

Here’s color commentator Jeff Van Gundy’s take (h/t the New York Post):

"“Anthony would be a great addition to any team. The question is who has to be traded to get him,” said Jeff Van Gundy, the ABC/ESPN analyst and former Knicks coach. “If it was Love, I don’t think that makes sense for Cleveland.”"

In his post, Berman goes on to say that one general manager would have trouble trading Anthony if Love wasn’t involved in the deal and another general manager who says “I don’t see any trade of Melo to the Cavs that makes them better and that the Knicks would agree to.”

In all actuality, the Knicks were prepared to trade Anthony to the Los Angeles Clippers for Austin Rivers if the Clippers could find a third team to take on Jamal Crawford’s contract according to Ramona Shelburne and Marc Stein of ESPN. The Knicks also had interest in J.J. Redick. Therefore, there’s no need to trade Kevin Love and the Knicks know they’re not getting an All-Star back in the trade.

For the Cavs, trading Iman Shumpert, Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson would be the only way they traded for Anthony. Tristan Thompson is unlikely to be involved in any deal. The Knicks traded Shumpert during Phil Jackson’s regime so he’s not a feasible trade option for them. However, with the Knicks interested in (a) Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio and (b) making a draft night trade with the Portland Trail Blazers or Philadelphia 76ers, two teams with a lot of cap space and young players that can help the teams in their rebuilding process.

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Those are three teams who could facilitate the deal as the Timberwolves have had interest in Shumpert all season and need both shooting and veteran leadership, the Blazers need more players who can shoot from the perimeter and the 76ers need perimeter shooting as well.

While the Cleveland Cavaliers like Shumpert, Frye and Jefferson, none of them (individually or collectively) will help the Cavs match the firepower of the Golden State Warriors like Anthony would. This series should throw any water on the idea that those three would be more valuable than Anthony in a shootout.

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Do you think that the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks could strike a deal for Carmelo Anthony? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.