NBA Trade Deadline 2018: 5 greatest trade deadline deals ever
5. Knicks/Timberwolves/Nuggets (2011)
New York Knicks get: Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Corey Brewer, Renaldo Balkman, Anthony Carter and Shelden Williams
Minnesota Timberwolves get: Eddy Curry, Anthony Randolph, and 2015 second-round pick
Denver Nuggets get: Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov, Kosta Koufos, a 2012 second-round pick, a 2013 second-round pick and a 2014 first-round pick
This move certainly had a major impact on the Knicks as a franchise, it just wasn’t the one they were hoping for.
After leading the Nuggets to the playoffs in each of his first seven seasons in the league, superstar Carmelo Anthony was looking for a new home. Denver needed to move him or risk losing their star for nothing in return. The risk seemed even more realistic after witnessing the departures of LeBron James and Chris Bosh from Cleveland and Toronto the previous offseason.
The Knicks got a superstar in Anthony, who they planned on pairing with big man Amare Stoudamire to form the core of a championship contender in the Big Apple.
The problem was the price tag. The Knicks gave up a haul for their new star. A cost that, in retrospect, was a major win for Denver, considering Anthony could have walked away in the offseason, most likely signing with the Knicks while leaving the majority of their young core intact.
The trade allowed Anthony to re-sign with the Knicks for millions more than he would have been able to as a free agent. While the move panned out financially for Anthony, on the court the Knicks could never find the success they were hoping for.
New York lost in the opening round of the playoffs in Anthony’s first season with the team. They repeated their first-round exit the following year and reached the Conference Semi-Finals in 2012-13 before losing to the Pacers. The Knicks wouldn’t make the playoffs again in Anthony’s time with the team.
The franchise tore through six head coaches in Anthony’s time with the team and endured the disastrous Phil Jackson era before finally moving Carmelo to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2017 offseason.