Saying Goodbye to Old Friends

Well, the Carmelo Anthony saga has finally ended the way most people thought it would.  Anthony is a New York Knick, acquired in a trade for essentially half of the pre-All Star Game Knicks roster.  In comes Carmelo, Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter, Renaldo Balkman, Sheldon Williams and Corey Brewer, and out go MSG mainstays Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov, Anthony Randolph, Eddy Curry and Raymond Felton.  I've had 24-hours to process the trade and its ramifications, and I still can't decide how exactly I feel about it.

On one hand, this is the move that the Knicks needed to make.  With the "Big Three" congregating in Miami, Boston's squad still looking strong, Chicago emerging as an Eastern Conference power and Orlando anchored by Dwight Howard and Co., the Knicks needed to acquire another superstar to (eventually) vault them towards the top of the East.  While they're still a few players away, Amar'e and Carmelo give the Knicks two top-ten stars in their primes and a solid two-man nucleus to build around.  Add a Chris Paul and a quality big man (along with Landry Fields, of course), and the Knicks may be ready to contend in a few seasons. 

That being said, the trade bums me out a little bit.  It's not that I loved the guys they gave up - I do consider myself a Danilo fan and I've always been a supporter of Chandler, but I barely got to know Felton, Randolph or Mozgov (and I hate Curry, for obvious reasons).  I did, however, grow fond of them all, especially during this season.  The Knicks were finally starting to play good basketball, and Felton, Gallo and Chandler were all big parts of that.  While Carmelo is the guy who can take them to the next level, I hope Knicks fans remember the quality contributions made by Gallinari and Chandler over the past few difficult seasons, and appreciate the effort that those two and Felton made in making NBA hoops relevant in New York again.

Additionally, the whole notion of these "many-for-one" trades just rubs me the wrong way.  I understand that Donnie Walsh was brought in to gut the old roster and acquire stars, and he's now officially done that (and I'd bet another top-notch player is on his way in the next year or so).  Everything's also been done within the confines of the NBA's salary cap, so Walsh's moves were complicated, intricate and "fair," unlike moves the Yankees or Mets would make.  Still, though, it doesn't "feel" right.  While I can't wait for the Knicks to contend for the NBA title again, I sort of wish they could have done it with homegrown talent.  Even if Carmelo and Amar'e can bring a banner to Madison Square Garden, it will never be the same as if Gallo and Wilson could have been a part of it.

So, yes, I'm excited for the new Knicks and can't wait to see what Walsh and Mike D'Antoni can build around their two studs.  It'll still be weird, though, to see the old Knicks taking the court for the Nuggets (or Nets, or wherever they end up when the trading deadline comes).  I wish Gallinari and Chandler the best - now it's time to see what the new Knicks can do.