OJ Mayo has been coming off the bench for the Memphis Grizzlies this season. Xavier Henry has gotten the nod over him and OJ now seems unhappy with his situation.
He's coming off the bench for a losing team when he is fully capable of being an NBA starter. Rumors have Mayo ending up in New York. This trade would be bad for the Knicks for the following reasons:
1) Chemistry
The team has won 12 of 13. The ball has been moving and everybody has been doing their part. Amare Stoudemire has been anchoring the offense and bringing the team a level of intensity that the city hasn't seen since the New York Dragons were in the Arena Football Playoffs...or would saying the Patrick Ewing days work better.
It's debatable. All of the players have close relationships as you can see by them tweeting at each other and always being together off the court. OJ has never had a reputation for being a locker room kind of guy and he could be one of those ball stoppers like Al Harrington was for this team.
2) Youth
Landry Fields has been the Knicks starting shooting guard this season and is second to Blake Griffin right now in the Rookie of the Year running. The kid has got it all.
He leads the league in rebounding for a guard...yes the league, not the team, not all rookies, but the league. He brings defensive tenacity to go along with a smooth and efficient offensive game.
He rarely turns the ball over and doesn't force shots, which is something no Knicks player has done in 10 years.
Bringing in O.J Mayo and moving Landry Fields to the bench could stunt Landry's growth and believe me, nobody in New York wants that to happen.
3) Price
OJ Mayo is on contract for two more years after this one. That is not something the Knicks are looking to add to their team. His salary doesn't come cheap and he could stand in the way of the Knicks being able to extend Raymond Felton or go after Chris Paul in 2012.
After working this hard, I just can't see Donnie Walsh throwing everything away and putting a lot of salary on the roster. He has done a great job of getting the Knicks under the cap and they should not throw away that cap space on a player anything short of spectacular. This trade would almost certainly cost the Knicks for another couple of years.
These reasons show you why the Knicks can't just go out and get OJ Mayo. He is a good player, but could ruin team chemistry, stunt the growth of Landry Fields and hurt the team's chances of getting to the next level in the 2012 free agent class.
The only way this trade makes sense is if the Knicks are forced to give up starting shooting guard Landry Fields in a three-way trade that lands them both Carmelo Anthony and O.J Mayo.
As this would bring them their superstar to go along with Amare and free up a spot in the starting lineup that O.J would probably fit nicely into with Carmelo.
Only with Carmelo and Amare does this trade make sense, otherwise Memphis...the Knicks probably should reject your offer or stay back and don't offer them anything.
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