Right before the All-Star break, an NBA executive speculated about possible, even if unrealistic, trade scenarios for the Knicks and Carmelo Anthony. One deal involved Cleveland but did not contain Kevin Love. The exec stopped himself.
“Try selling that to Knick fans and they’ll burn down the Garden,” he said.
But now, the NBA has seen All-Star/Olympian DeMarcus Cousins dealt from Sacramento to New Orleans for what on the surface appears to be a hardly overpowering return: Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, the Pelicans’ first-round pick in 2017 (protected 1-3) plus a 2017 second-rounder.