Carmelo Anthony Becomes a Member of the New York Knicks in Blockbuster Deal

This is the uniform NBA fans will become accustomed to seeing Carmelo Anthony play in through 2014

The New York Knicks have acquired Denver Nuggets forward, Carmelo Anthony today, February 21st, 2011 in a blockbuster trade that involved the Knicks, Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves leaving the New Jersey Nets high and dry in their pursuit to land the Nuggets superstar player, Anthony.  Here is a breakdown of the specifics of the trade that is being reported by ESPN the Magazine's senior writer Chris Broussard:

Knicks get:
SF Carmelo Anthony
PG Chauncey Billups
PF Sheldon Williams
PG Anthony Carter
PF Renaldo Balkman
SG Corey Brewer(from Minnesota)

Nuggets get:
SF Wilson Chandler
PG Raymond Felton
C  Timofey Mozgov
SF Danilo Gallinari
2014 First Round Pick(from Knicks)
2012, 2013 Second Round Pick(from Knicks via Golden State Warriors)


Timberwolves get:
C/PF Anthony Randolph(from New York)
  C     Eddy Curry(from New York)
$3 Million Cash(from New York)

Whether Anthony, the superstar of this trade, will agree to sign an extension with the Knicks has not yet been determined. (Update: Carmelo signed a three year, $65 Million contract extension with the Knicks on Feb. 22nd)  The signing of the extension with the Nets was an initial prerequisite for the Nets to agree to a trade, but as the deadline grew closer, the Nets began to back off of that demand of Anthony to pull the trigger on a deal.  It made no difference though as Carmelo went to the Knicks.  Anthony signed an extension, which avoided the possibility he could become a free agent and next year sign for considerably less money than he will make with this extension with the Knicks do to uncertainty on the parameters of the upcoming new CBA negotiations and player salaries.

This is a clear sign that the Denver Nuggets felt that they could not hold on to Carmelo Anthony for the long term and decided that they would be better off dumping his expiring contract in hopes to rebuild with young talent they received from the New York Knicks and a host of high draft picks they have acquired via the trade.  This should help bolster their roster in the years upcoming with a collection of young and talented players.  For the Nuggets, this was all about looking to rebuilding for the future knowing that Anthony would not be a part of that future.

Anthony will be making his debut in a Knick uniform as early as Wednesday, February 23rd against the Milwaukee Bucks.