NEW YORK WINS CARMELO BID WAR

In a 3-team trade, Denver Nuggets traded Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter, Renaldo Balkman, Shelden Williams and a 2016 1st round draft pick to the New York Knicks; the Denver Nuggets traded a 2015 2nd round draft pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves; the Minnesota Timberwolves traded Kosta Koufos to the Denver Nuggets; the Minnesota Timberwolves traded Corey Brewer to the New York Knicks; the New York Knicks traded Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, cash, a 2012 2nd round draft pick, a 2013 2nd round draft pick, a 2014 1st round draft pick and a 2016 1st round draft pick to the Denver Nuggets; and the New York Knicks traded Eddy Curry, Anthony Randolph and cash to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

What does it give the New York Knicks
After years of struggling in the world's biggest sports market the Knicks are finally a contender again. Anthony is a superstar scoring small forward in his prime, and along with current Knick Amar'e Stoudemire is now arguably part of the top forward duo in the NBA. Billups makes it a stellar trio, and while Williams, Balkman, and Carter were included for salary purposes, Williams should be a nice depth add. Anthony wanted to play in New York, and now the only issues remaining are signing him to a long-term extension and getting him to adjust to head coach Mike D'Antoni's system. Billups will be around to help them contend for a season after this one, but the key here was creating the Anthony-Stoudemire superstar pairing for years to come. The Knicks give up a lot here to become a true contender, but that's what they indeed are now. This move also likely makes Ronny Turiaf the Knicks' new starting center.

What does it give the Denver Nuggets
Denver did very well here to get some very good young players plus solid future assets--mostly in return for a player they faced eventually losing for potentially nothing. Unlike Cleveland (with LeBron James) and Toronto (with Chris Bosh), the Nuggets actually got significant returns when they found out their superstar was not going to re-sign. It's uncertain which of Gallinari, Chandler, Felton, and Mozgov are in Denver's long-term plans (as more deals may be coming) but Gallinari is a rising star, Chandler and Felton are above-average NBA starters, and Mozgov has untapped potential. Expect Gallinari, Chandler, and Felton to play big minutes as long as they're Nuggets, with point-man Ty Lawson seeing a bigger role, Al Harrington and J.R. Smith possibly playing more than before (the latter likely backing up at small forward), and Arron Afflalo probably heading to the bench.

Fantasy impact