Given the results of the "worst player" poll, I'm surprised how many people are confused or low on this trade. Chriss and Knight seemed to cause the most consternation than any players on the roster, with Bender following closely behind.
Anderson has proven he can be a real contributor on a good team. He's an unquestionably bad defender but I'd hope we'd all come to terms with the value of a true floor spacing big when we saw the Suns go from no-Frye in 2013, to Frye in 2014, to no Frye in 2015. The impact of "tall shooty guy" us huge.
I think Knight is what he is; turning a bad defensive, selfish player with awful shot selection into a net positive is something rarely done. Houston might be ideal because there is no way he can justify such idiotic play, but the odds are still against him.
Chriss, I actually think can still be a decent player, he's not good at anything, not even average at anything, but he's also not terrible at anything either. That is low praise, but IMO we've been one of the worst coached teams for a few years now and Romar (his coach at Washingon) is also terrible at player development. I do think he could come back to haunt us, but not to the Josh Smith extent someone else mentioned. I think he could become a good transition offensive player who is solid defensively. Sort of like what the Morrii have (much to my chagrin) turned into.
Melton... he's a second round pick. He was a big time recruit a few years ago but the odds are better that he's playing in Turkey in 2 years than him being a legit starter. But, seeing as we're devoid of a true starting caliber PG, might as well roll the dice.
This trade, at face value, is fine with me. I don't see it really burning us and I think Anderson will help other players develop offensively. I hate a cluttered court.
However, when you look at this trade from the lens of how we arrived here... obviously... it freaking sucks. As I said earlier. If McD gets canned at the end of the year, the Brandon Knight saga should open the obituary.