‘Melo drama over as Anthony joins Knicks

NEW YORK – Carmelo Anthony’s trade from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks was sinking in Tuesday, ending a seven-month saga about where the flamboyant playmaker would finish the NBA season.

Two days before the NBA trade deadline, the 26-year-old forward who helped the Americans win gold at the Beijing Olympics was sent to New York in a 12-player deal that will unite him with another NBA star in Amare Stoudemire.

“Every team needs a 1, 1A punch,” Stoudemire said. “With the ways that we both can score …. we’re very versatile, so it’s hard to guard us.

“It’s two highly talented offensive players. It’s going to be electric. We’re taking the right steps to building something special in New York.”

Denver completed a three-team swap with the Knicks on Tuesday night. The Minnesota Timberwolves also were involved in the trade, which couldn’t be finalized until Anthony signed a three-year, $65 million contract extension with the Nuggets.

“It’s what he wants. It’s what I wanted, to come to New York and play on the big stage,” Stoudemire said. “He has the same type of swagger. This is what he wants and he can handle it. We’re going to do it together.”

Anthony ranks sixth in the NBA with 25.2 points a game. He has also averaged 7.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists a game this season for the Nuggets, where he has played for his entire career since joining the NBA as the third overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.

Anthony, guards Chauncey Billups and Anthony Carter, forward Renaldo Balkman and center Shelden Williams were sent to the Knicks in exchange for forwards Danilo Gallinari of Italy and Wilson Chandler, guard Raymond Felton, Russian center Timofey Mozgov and $3 million.

The Knicks also sent the Nuggets a first-round pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and second-round selections in the 2012 and 2013 NBA Drafts, both of which originally belonged to the Golden State Warriors.

In a related deal to cope with salary cap issues, the Knicks sent center Eddy Curry, forward Anthony Randolph and $3 million to Minnesota for swingman Corey Brewer.

Anthony, who is from New York, had rejected a three-year contract extension offer from Denver worth $65 million last year, setting the stage for the deal and the drawn-out saga of where he would go.

Anthony had to sign the extension with the Nuggets before the trade deal to the Knicks could be completed.

The New Jersey Nets several times appeared near a deal, but Anthony’s refusal to sign a longer-term contract thwarted efforts from the Knicks’ cross-rival rivals to deny New York the coveted point producer.

The Knicks hope to have Anthony in uniform on Wednesday when they host Milwaukee, but they will join the Miami Heat — with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — and Boston with multiple stars and huge expectations.

“It’s not easy and it’s not going to get any easier for us now because the target is on our back,” Stoudemire said. “Teams are going to be eager to play against us.”

Anthony sparked Denver into the NBA playoffs in each of his seven full seasons with the club, but the Nuggets only went beyond the first round once, that in 2009 when they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals, the club’s deepest playoff run since 1985.
At 32-25, Denver ranks seventh in the Western Conference, one game ahead of Utah and Memphis in a fight for the last playoff berths.

The Knicks, 28-26, are sixth in the Eastern Conference, two games ahead of Philadelphia and 5 1/2 games behind fifth-place Atlanta.