Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks are a cautionary tale for Philadelphia 76ers fans

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With the Philadelphia 76ers actually winning a few games lately, people have become much more positive about the local professional basketball team. Instead of articles about how the Sixers’ roster is an abomination, we’re getting stories about how Brett Brown is uncovering some useful pieces from among the no-names that populate the roster.

Before everyone gets too excited, we should remember that there’s a long distance between a roster with a few solid pieces and a team that is ready to challenge for the NBA title.

Michael Carter-Williams looks like a solid player – but not a star. Image Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

It’s possible to envision Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel one day being starters on an NBA champion. And guys like Robert Covington and Jerami Grant could end up as solid rotation players on a very good team.

But are any of those players likely to make an All-NBA team or be the go-to guy on a team contending for the Finals? I doubt it.

Generally speaking, if a team wants to make the NBA Finals, they’ll need at least one high-level star (as well as a secondary star or two). Brett Brown loves to talk about how the Spurs have consistently developed strong supporting players. But a large reason why the Spurs have been so successful at that is because they have Tim Duncan serving as anchor.

It’s not a coincidence that the past six NBA Champions have been led by players who are sure-fire future Hall of Famers.

Supposedly, that’s been the main reason the Sixers have undergone a tanking campaign the past two seasons. They wanted to put themselves in position to draft a player of that caliber.

Maybe Joel Embiid can develop into that type of player, (I have my doubts. Guys who have injury issues upon entering the league don’t usually get better) or maybe the ping-pong balls will bounce their way and they’ll be able to draft Duke’s Jahlil Okafor.

Even if the 76ers can’t draft a star, they might still be able to acquire one via trade. Every so often, a star becomes disgruntled and wants to be traded, or his team’s salary cap situation mandates a move. This is how the Houston Rockets – for whom Sixers general manager Hinkie served as assistant GM – were able to trade for James Harden a few years ago.

So either by draft or by trade, the Sixers may find a way to get a star player on their roster in the next couple of seasons. And once that happens, they’ll be in good shape going forward, right?

Not necessarily. Taking a quick look at the NBA standing shows that having a mega-star on the roster isn’t a guarantee of contention. It isn’t even a guarantee that a team won’t be one of the worst in the league.

The New York Knicks are led by Carmelo Anthony. In theory, Anthony is exactly the type of player that the Sixers are hoping to acquire. He’s a ten time All-Star with six appearances on an All-NBA team. In at six of the past ten NBA Drafts, Anthony would have likely been the #1 overall pick had he come out of college that year.

Carmelo Anthony hasn’t kept the Knicks from sucking. Image Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

But despite Anthony’s presence – and in some ways, because of it – the Knicks are still awful. They actually have a worse record than the Sixers.

Contrast that to the Atlanta Hawks who are in first place in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks may lack that top-level star, but they’ve got a deep and talented roster. Perhaps more importantly, they didn’t need to tank a season (or two) in order to build it.

Admittedly, the Knicks have many problems. They’ve got a roster full of mismatched, yet expensive parts,and their general manager might not have any idea how to do his job. On the other hand, one of the reasons the roster is such a mess was because they had to give up so much in order to acquire Anthony.

There is some hope that the Sixers could avoid such a fate. Hinkie has been very careful to avoid acquiring any cap-clogging contracts. Theoretically, this will allow him to eventually build a deep roster that includes solid complementary players.

So there is reason to hope that the Sixers won’t end up in a similar position as the Knicks. But if anyone thinks that all the Sixers need to do is acquire a star in order to be contenders, they should ask some Knicks fans how they’re enjoying the Carmelo Anthony era.