eh, i got no problem with the melo trade. At the end of the day, to me it was the Amare gamble that just didnt/seemingly wouldn't pay off now because he can't get healthy.
Role players come and go, and the older ones will always flock to ur team regardless if they feel u can title contend. So if it came down to Melo, Amare and Tyson as their would-be championship core, with a Shumpert and JR Smith rounding out their most talented 5 man lineup they could put out there (IMO)... well if everyone in that lineup were healthy and able to play 30+ minutes if need be, then i wouldn't find it delusional at all if a knick fan were to have as much confidence in *that* (hypothetical) squad as a bulls pacers or nets fan would have in their own teams beating the others down (or just beating any eastern team not MIA) and making it to the ECF.
Only issue is Amare can’t get healthy and he, to me, was just as big a necessary piece as Carmelo was as that ‘2nd superstar’.