The Knicks finally ended the season-long saga of Carmelo Anthony by moving nearly half of their existing roster in return for 5 players headlined by Anthony and PG Chauncey Billups. The Knicks move has less to do with contending this season as they gave up nearly 50 points a game in production to get Carmelo. Melo is obviously one of the best scorers in the league but is nothing special on defense and on paper the Knicks haven't improved much. However Carmelo has already proved invaluable at the end of close games as proved by his 27 point 10 rebound performance in his debut against the Bucks. He also gives the Knicks the ability to give F Amar'e Stoudemire more rest for his chronically ailing knees after averaging a career-high in minutes in the first half of the season. Ultimately the Knicks will be able to replace the players they gave up and will now look to build their team around Amar'e and Carmelo. While they'll almost certainly make the playoffs this season don't expect them to be a real contender in the ever-improving Eastern Conference for another season or two.
The Nets were the Knicks biggest competitor for Carmelo and are ultimately responsible for the price New York had to pay after they had a deal in place with Denver. While they missed out on Carmelo Nets eccentric billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov pulled the trigger to bring in All-Star PG Deron Williams from the Utah Jazz to serve as a central piece for the team to build around in preparation for their planned move to Brooklyn for the 2012-2013 season. I think this is a great deal for New Jersey who is only two years removed from the worst season in franchise history. It is clear that with Prokhorov and Jay-Z at the helm this team is looking to aggressively acquire talent and produce a contender by the time they move. It would appear as though the balance of power is in the final stages of completing its shift from the Western to the Eastern Conference.
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