LeBron

Praise LeBron. The story that refused to go away, sort of like Brett Favre but with players that weren’t washed up and likely to thwart their team’s best Super Bowl run in 12 years, is now over.

Carmelo Anthony, whose wooing of and by the New York Knicks has been the center of attention all season in the NBA, is finally with his beloved team. His time with the Denver Nuggets was nearing an end anyway, so trading him made perfect sense for George Karl and co. Even considering the Knicks got a top 10 talent in ‘Melo, it seems like they gave up an awful lot to get him. Consider the concessions the Knicks had to make to get the deal done:

• Parting with six players – Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey “Opulence, I has it” Mozgov, Anthony Randolph’s rap sheet, and the ghost of Eddy Curry
• Shipping three draft picks and $6 million
• Forcing Spike Lee to wear a Nuggets hat whenever Denver plays in New York
• Knitting a huge throwback Nuggets jersey for the Statue of Liberty Statue of Mutombo complete with Dikembe’s voice repeating “WHO WANTS TO SEX MUTOMBO?” on a loudspeaker
• 33rd St renamed Colfax Avenue and only hybrids and 4x4s are aloud to drive on it
• Mark Sanchez now has to name his first born son with that 17 year old girl John Elway Denver Sanchez

Assuming Carmelo signs a max extension, the Knicks currently have exactly four players under contract after next season – Carmelo and Amar’e Stoudemire (each making around $20 million), and two guys from the Bronx named Stan (making approximately $15/hr). Much like the NFL’s current labor troubles explained excellently by my colleague here, Stop Crying, There Will Be an NFL Season (Maybe),” the NBA is about to have a labor showdown of their own. The result will most likely be a much lower salary cap and much less flexibility for teams with multiple high-earners.

Will it work out? Eh, maybe. It makes the Knicks completely relevant again (at least for the rest of this season and maybe next) but the window is short. Gambles like this almost always work out better for the superstar’s new home than their old one, but this may be the one case where the Nuggets got the better end of the deal.