The beauty of the triangle lies largely in allowing for teams to be top-heavy as long as the players brought in to support its stars properly fit the roles they’re assigned. For example, the system de-emphasizes the need for a star point guard who can engineer the offense off the dribble. In the triangle, the point guard serves as more of a conduit, camping at the top of the key as a release valve, looking to shoot open threes when available or switch the play to attack over-shifted defenses.

Newly-acquired point guard Jose Calderon should fit that role nicely. He’s better than a 40-percent three-point shooter for his career and, as traditional point guard skills go, he’s far more accomplished as a passer than a dribble-penetrator. Calderon will 34 by the time the Knicks could sign Gasol, but the limited need for athleticism from a triangle point guard should hide his advancing years fairly well; anyone who doubts that should look to the example of his new coach, who manned that post in Los Angeles well into his thirties. But whether Calderon ages well or not is secondary to the more general benefit of the system — namely, that in a league with an unprecedented supply of explosiveness at the 1, floor generals whose value derives more from minimizing mistakes and hitting open looks can be had at a bargain.

Similarly, the presence of Melo and Gasol would greatly mitigate the need for the Knicks to look for an additional star on the wing. The triangle offense would place such heavy playmaking emphasis on those two players that the Knicks need only look for wings who can hit open looks and defend to fill out their rotation.

One of the main beneficiaries of the new system in New York stands to be Iman Shumpert. The Knicks have spent three years changing their mind about precisely what he is, but, given their current offense and personnel, they can abandon their misguided intentions to turn him into a point guard or a slasher and try to help him develop into a more consistent deep threat.

Two 2014 draft picks — Cleanthony Early and Thanasis Antetekounmpo — project to be a shooter and a wing defender, respectively. In the best-case scenario, Early’s ceiling could even see him develop into something of a mini-Melo who could take on increased minutes as the strong-side wing as he develops and Melo ages.

On the interior, New York will be priced out of the bidding for high-flyers and additional post scorers, but should be able to beef up their rotation with rebounders and defenders who can play the potentially low-usage weak-side post role in the triangle while contributing in the areas that their skill sets suggest. In Cole Aldrich, Jeremy Tyler, and Samuel Dalembert, the Knicks already have a handful of guys who could fill those roles. But, again, the larger point is that these player types tend to come fairly cheap, which great news for a team whose best option is to use nearly two-thirds of the salary cap on two players.

J.R. Smith is a wild card, but at his best, he also could prove to be a significant asset in the triangle. His primary job should be to sit either in the strong-side corner or on the weak-side wing and wait for the offense to produce good long-range looks for him. But, given that Melo can’t play 48 minutes, he could also see a couple of shifts per night as the team’s primary perimeter threat, with the hope that could be enough to sate his appetite for ball-domination in a role that actually suits his skills fairly well.