It looks like after weeks of speculation and bartering Carmelo Anthony will finally be a New York Knick as it appears a trade was completed between the Knicks and Nuggets on Monday night. It appears when the Nets bowed out of the bidding when it got too expensive they were for real about not mortgaging the farm just to get his services.
The Knicks on the other hand kept the appearance that they did not want trade certain pieces of their team in order to get Carmelo, but in the end they gave up a ton to get him. The details of the trade are below:
Nuggets Get:________________Knicks Get:__________________Timberwolves Get:
Danilo Gallinari Carmelo Anthony Eddy Curry’s Contract
Wilson Chandler Chauncey Billups Anthony Randolph
Raymond Felton Anthony Carter $3 million in cash
Timofey Mozgov Shelden Williams
2014 1st Round Pick Renaldo Balkman
2012 7 2013 2nd Round Picks 2nd Round Pick (from Minnesota)
Corey Brewer (from Minnesota)
There were a lot of changes for all teams involved, and it now paves the way for Chris Paul to come to the Knicks when his contract is up, so that they can have their “Big 3” in New York. In the interim it seems that all the Knicks have done is turn themselves into the Denver Nuggets in the Eastern Conference, but with a better post player in Amare Stoudamire. The Nuggets were able to get four Knicks starters under 26 years of age, and a host of draft picks, so they should be in good shape to rebuild their team quickly.
The Knicks gave up an awful lot for a player who is not in the top tier of players in the league, if Lebron James is in the first tier you can consider Anthony as tier 1a. He is a proven scorer, probably the best in the league right now, but he plays mediocre defense and has not proven himself to be a great leader. It’s hard to think of a time where Anthony was able to make the players around him elevate their game when you consider the stiffs Lebron James had to play with in Cleveland.
Anthony got his wish and is continuing a trend of players forcing their way out of teams, and to destinations where they want to go. It seems that Dwight Howard and Chris Paul are the next two players on the horizon who are going to skip town from the team they started their careers with, but maybe one of them will decide to make the hard choice and try to win with their current team. Anthony is not closer to winning a title because the Knicks are not better than the Celtics, Heat, Bulls, or even Magic at this point, and even if they get Chris Paul it’s not going to be difficult for the Knicks to get to the NBA Finals without playing defense.
