Carmelo Anthony and the other players the New York Knicks acquired in Monday's blockbuster trade with the Denver Nuggets are expected to be in uniform for the Knicks Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden when they take on the Milwaukee Bucks.
It will be the first chance for New York fans to glimpse 'Melo in Knicks' colors. The Knicks, of course, are betting that the acquisition of Anthony is the next step toward becoming a championship contender, not just a middle-of-the-pack team, which is what their 28-26 record says they are right now.
There has, of course, been plenty of reaction to the Anthony trade around the Inter-Google today. Here is a sampling.
From Benjamin Hochman, Nuggets beat writer for the Denver Post:
I think everyone involved in the trade was relieved. This became a soap opera, featuring an NBA All-Star, a Russian billionaire, a reality TV star and media from America’s largest market. I think it was fitting that Melo made an appearance on a national talk show ("Conan") the same night he was traded. Everything in this process was over the top.
From the New York Times:
The Knicks had to navigate a minefield of conflicting agendas, internal and external. They had to weigh Anthony’s competitive drive against his drive for financial security. They had to gauge the anxiety of the and the stubborn persistence of .
They ultimately paid a staggering price — four rotation players, all of them 26 or younger, three draft picks and $6 million in cash — to acquire Anthony and Chauncey Billups. But the Knicks nudged a little closer to contender status late Monday night, and that was all the justification they needed.
Anthony, one of the ’s elite scorers, is joining Amar’e Stoudemire, one of game’s fiercest big men, on the league’s greatest stage. Any nagging details — a gutted roster, a fractured front office — were deemed secondary.
"We know that we want to win a championship," Coach said Tuesday. "And the way to do it, you got to get some star players in here. And you can’t say, ‘Well, what if, what if.’ We could be here forever. And what-ifs never happen. But we know we have two of the best players in the league."
That is the point for the Knicks. They can rebuild whatever ancillary pieces they lost in getting Anthony. Finding the superstars that are necessary to build contending teams is the difficult part. The Knicks have now done that.