Carmelo Anthony Finally Dealt to NY Knicks: Denver Nuggets Do Well in Trade
Carmelo Anthony has finally gotten his ultimate wish and will become a member of the New York Knicks.
Multiple credible sources, including the Denver Post and Yahoo! Sports are now confirming that the Denver Nuggets traded away Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman.
In return, the New York Knicks are sending the Nuggets Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, the Knicks 2014 first-round pick and the Warriors' second-round picks in 2012 and 2013 and $3 million.
For the Nuggets, moving Melo, the disgruntled superstar from Denver, was an inescapable reality.
According to reputable sources, Anthony let Nuggets management know in November that he would not be re-signing his extension with Denver and that they should trade him.
Since then, the young front office duo of Josh Kroenke (owner Stan Kroenke's son) and Masai Ujiri (young and unproven executive) have worked relentlessly on a deal that would best benefit Denver and the Nuggets' future of the franchise.
Ujiri and Kroenke have worked the most value humanly possible for a superstar in four young players and three draft picks, which are very valuable when it comes to rebuilding a team.
But it was also an intelligent move to take the Knicks deal over the proposed Nets deal (Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, Ben Uzoh and four first-round picks) because the players New York is sending to Denver are young and have already experienced play, practice and perform at an NBA level.
Picks are good but young players are better because it's easier to judge what their potential ceiling may be as they've gone against NBA talent, if even for only a year or two.
This isn't the only deal though, as ESPN and others are reporting that the Nuggets will trade either Gallinari, Felton or Chandler with Mozgov to the New Jersey Nets for two more first-round picks.
Who Did the Nuggets Get?
Raymond Felton is a six-year point guard who has blossomed as of late. Felton's averaging a career-high in points and assists (17.1 PPG, 9.0 APG) this season, both are respectable numbers league-wide, both are better than Billups' 16.5 PPG and 5.3 APG. Felton is fast and he's got a mid-range game, he could be used in another trade Denver may make, or he could be kept on the Nuggets to compete with Ty Lawson.
Wilson Chandler is a 6'8” fourth-year forward who has been playing solidly this season. Chandler averages 16.4 PPG and 5.9 RPG while playing in 51 games this year with New York. Chandler is an athletic young player, and he could play Melo's vacant small forward position for Denver, or they could trade him away.
Danilo Gallinari is a 6'10” forward in his third season as an NBA player. Gallinari, originally from Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Italy, has played well but has not improved mightily since last year. His 15.9 PPG are a career-high by 0.8, but his 4.8 RPG are actually down from last year slightly. Gallinari is a young, unique player that has a decent outside shot and would add much-needed size to Denver, but he also seems the most likely to be traded to New Jersey along with Mozgov for two additional first-round picks.
Timofey Mozgov is a beastly 7'1” 250 pound center in his rookie season. He's only played sparingly (13.5 minutes per game), and his stats (4.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG) reflect that. Mozgov is still a relative unknown and he's a definite project player for the Nets to work on if indeed the Nuggets trade him to New Jersey.
Update: Ken Berger of CBS is confirming that the Knicks, not the Nuggets, will also receive Corey Brewer from Minnesota and the Timberwolves get Eddy Curry in the deal.
Corey Brewer is a young, explosive player.
Brewer is a fourth-year 6'9" forward who is slight at 188 pounds. But his light body weight gives him quickness to go around defenders, and he drives the lane well. After enjoying a career year last season (13.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.4 APG) while starting all 82 games, Brewer has struggled this year (8.6 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 1.4 APG). But a change of scenery should help Brewer, coming from the terrible Timberwolves.
And on top of all the players and picks they've already gotten, and the more that are possible to come soon, the Nuggets will save a vast amount of money and will be in the position to possibly pick up free agents when the labor dispute is finally settled.
Overall, the Nuggets front office deserves a good amount of praise for getting what they wanted and getting maximum value for Carmelo Anthony. It was masterfully done by the two young executives from a personnel standpoint, although there could be many critiques as well.
The deal took far too long, Billups leaving will hurt the fanbase more than even the Nuggets realize (even though they weren't going to re-sign him to a nearly $15 million deal next year anyway), and Denver's young executives may have painted themselves in the wrong light.
They held the Knicks and Nets out to dry for months on end, constantly changing deals. It was seemingly the equivalent of hanging Donnie Walsh and Mike Dolan upside down and shaking them for their loose change.
Still, they got the deal done and did a great job of securing assets and possibly rebuilding the team faster than anyone could have expected.
Of course, what other deals they orchestrate in the next few days will have much to do with that as well.
Chauncey Billups
Billups was the innocent bystander in this trade saga, he never wanted to leave Denver, he's a native and a veteran that wanted to finish his career in the Mile High City.
He even said earlier in the season that he wanted to be a part of the Nuggets' front office when his playing days are over, but everything's up in the thin air of Denver now.
Billups also said earlier last week that if he were traded to the Knicks he would force his way to Miami, but that's all hearsay as for now.
What is for sure is that Billups is a true rarity, a hometown hero, someone who should never have been traded, and his loss will burn the Nuggets' soul deeply.
Rich Kurtzman is a freelance journalist actively seeking a career in journalism. Along with being the CSU Rams Examiner, Kurtzman is a Denver Nuggets, Denver Broncos and NBA Featured Columnist for bleacherreport.com, the Colorado/Utah Regional Correspondent for stadiumjourney.com and a weekly contributor to milehighhoops.com.
Rich also heads up PR for K-Biz and Beezy, a Colorado-based rap group.
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