It’s official: Carmelo Anthony is a Knick.
ESPN has the details of the trade.
As a part of the deal, the Knicks will send Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, and a 2014 first-round draft pick to the Nuggets, who would get additional picks and cash, league sources told Broussard. Along with Anthony, New York would acquire Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman, the sources said.
New York will send Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry to Minnesota as part of the deal in exchange for Corey Brewer, a league source told Broussard.
As Chris Broussard noted earlier in the day, Wilson Chandler was set to become a restricted free agent this summer, and the Knicks would have had to give up their rights to the swingman if they were going to try to sign Anthony as a free agent. So if Chandler were expendable, and we count the swap of Billups and Felton as a wash (at least in the short term), then this becomes Carmelo Anthony and Denver’s spare parts for Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, a (likely late) first round pick and a pair of second rounders. The Knicks were going to get the better end of the deal all along since Carmelo made it clear that he only wanted to sign the extension if it meant he could play in New York. Still, the Nuggets improved their position and turned a bad situation into at least three starter-caliber players.
Look for Denver to move Felton before Thursday’s deadline for another piece to the rebuilding puzzle, signifying a changing of the guard at the point. The electric Ty Lawson will take over. It would have been nice if Denver had been able to acquire Landry Fields, but Arron Afflalo is a very similar player, and Mozgov has some upside as a young big. There are already rumors swirling that one or more of these former Knicks may be headed to the Nets for picks.
New York will start Billups, Fields, Anthony, Stoudemire and probably Ronny Turiaf going forward. I don’t expect a deep playoff run in the stacked Eastern Conference as the players get acclimated to one another, but they could spring an upset in the first round.
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