Ryan Ward is a passionate and opinionated sports writer that has dedicated himself to his craft over the past five years writing about all the sports he loves from the US and overseas, from International soccer to NFL football, but with an especially passionate interest in NBA basketball and the Los Angeles Lakers.___________________________________
NBA Trade: Carmelo Anthony finally gets dealt to the New York Knicks
The NBA trade rumors involving superstar forward Carmelo Anthony have been swirling around the league for most of the season as it became clear that the All-Star wasn’t going to sign the $65 million dollar three-year contract extension offered by the Denver Nuggets. Even though Melo was almost certainly headed out of the Mile High City, seemingly countless trade proposals were shot down from the Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets and the New York Knicks.
Fortunately for the Knicks, their last attempt to land the superstar was successful. New York may have been reluctant to trade young players like Danilo Gallinari and recent free acquisition Raymond Felton, but when with the trade deadline looming and the Nuggets dedicated to making a deal before Feb. 24, the Knicks were forced to pull the trigger.
On Tuesday morning, the deal was officially announced as the Denver Nuggets finally agreed to a trade that would send Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Renaldo Balkman and Anthony Carter to the New York Knicks. In exchange, New York has agreed to send Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov and a 2014 first-round draft pick to Denver.
So despite being reluctant to parts ways with some of their promising young players, the New York Knicks may have greatly increased their chances of becoming a title contender in the near future. The immediate future will be much harder to determine as it is uncertain whether or not All-Star forward Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony can co-exist.
In my opinion, this move was made by the New York Knicks not only to improve their team immediately, but to secure their future as one of the best teams in the league and a perennial NBA title contender. With the addition of Melo alongside Stoudemire, big-name free agents will almost certainly take notice as All-Star point guards Chris Paul and Deron Williams might be the next superstar to head to the Big Apple.
Whether or not the New York Knicks can land another big-name this summer remains to be seen, but in the meantime it will be interesting to see what this new one-two punch can do in the Big Apple. Another thing that will make this squad better after this trade will be veteran point guard Chauncey Billups in the backcourt. Even though Melo was most likely on cloud nine after this deal was finalized, Billups wasn’t all that happy about yet another move as Denver was his hometown and he loved playing for George Karl and the Denver Nuggets.
Although Billups is probably not in the Knicks long term plans, the veteran point guard will give New York some stability at the point with Raymond Felton heading into the Mile High City. Along with solid outside shooting and ability to hit the big shot, Billups also brings the kind of veteran leadership that this team will need moving forward.
On Wednesday night, the New York Knicks will play host to the Milwaukee Bucks in what will most likely be the first game that Carmelo Anthony suits up for his new team.
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