Former Nugget Carmelo Anthony exchanged to the New York Knicks

Presidents Day weekend may have showcased the National Basketball Association All-Star game and its more-interesting-than-the-game festivities, however the real National Basketball Association excitement happened off the court. High-scoring forward Carmelo Anthony has been exchanged from the Denver Nuggets to the N.Y. Knicks as part of a 12-player, three-team trade that could make large noise in the Eastern Conference for the remainder of the season and beyond. According to ESPN and The Sporting News, the price the Knicks had to pay to land Anthony via trade can be much more than Anthony’s expected three-year, $65 million payroll extension.

Trading twelve players for Anthony

In order to get All-Star caliber talent Anthony, the New York Knicks could not get away without sending major talent to Anthony’s former team, the Denver Nuggets. Wilson Chandler, point guard Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov and Danilo Gallinari were all sent to Denver by the N.Y. Knicks. Denver exchanged several. They include Renaldo Balkman, Anthony Carter, Shelden Williams, Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony.

To tie up payroll loose ends, the trade also involved the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Knicks also got Corey Brewer from Minnesota. This was in exchange for Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry.

Knicks being affected by this

Michael Wilbon explained that the Knicks seem desperate enough to make the Carmelo Anthony trade. Having Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups on the team may either be beneficial or terrible. There’s a plan though. The Knicks hope the supporters will recognize the change. The Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls or even Miami Heat can be beat in a seven-game Easter Conference playoff series that the N.Y. Knicks will be attending with Carmelo Anthony.

However, with a new collective bargaining agreement coming shortly – which could reportedly consist of a hard salary cap – it might not be possible to sign New Orleans’ Chris Paul as a free agent after next season. Since Billups doesn't really want to play in Madison Square Garden, a point guard will be something the Knicks may have to get in order to do well. A good pick would be Utah Jazz's Paul or Deron Williams. Still, the cap would make it hard to pull out that kind of money.

Citations

ESPN

sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=wilbon/110222

The Sporting News

sportingnews.com/nba/feed/2010-08/carmelos-contact

CBS’s Lauren Shehadi on the Carmelo trade

youtube.com/watch?v=-UfmX6GVPTc