With their backs against the wall and with very limited options, the Denver Nuggets traded star forward Carmelo Anthony to the team of his choice, the New York Knicks. Denver sent Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Renaldo Balkman, Shelden Williams, and Anthony Carter to New York. Meanwhile, the Knicks are basically selling the farm to get Carmelo as they sent Timofey Mozgov, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Eddy Curry, Anthony Randolph,their 2014 first-round pick, and $3 million to Denver. The trade became a three-team deal when the Minnesota Timberwolves got involved. They receive Curry and Randolph from Denver in exchange for two first second round picks, and send Corey Brewer to the Knicks. It had been long speculated that a third team would get involved in any Carmelo deal, but most experts believed it would the Detroit Pistons.
So begins a brand new era for the two main teams in this trade. For Denver, it marks a rebuilding process that will more than likely produce a few years of agony for any Nuggets fan out there. Even worse, they didn’t really get the best deal available because of Anthony’s reluctance to sign with anyone other than New York, a fact that basically forced the Nuggets to trade him to the Knicks for the best possible deal NY could put together. In reality, the New Jersey Nets could’ve probably offered more value for Melo, but the pending free agent held all the cards. No team would take him without a guarantee that Anthony would sign with them longterm and the only team Carmelo wished to sign longterm with plays out of Madison Square Garden.
For the Knicks, it may be the most exciting time the team has experienced in decades. The combination of Anthony and Amare Stoudemire gives New York two legitimate superstars that the team can build around. In one move, the Knicks went from a team with an optimistic future to a team with an incredibly bright one. The players they dealt could be replaced, in theory, but very rarely do you have an opportunity to acquire a talent like Anthony. Furthermore, indications point to New Orleans’ guard Chris Paul joining the Knicks next summer when he is a free agent. Paul went so far as to speak of a possible unison during his speech at Carmelo’s wedding. That lineup would quickly become one of the best in the East and would be good enough to challenge the Miami Heat’s threesome of Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. The Knicks would become legitimate Championship threats just like that and Spike Lee would finally have something to brag about.
