Feeling a little 'Melo.

FINALLY, the "Carmelo Anthony Sweepstakes" are over!!  No more soap-opera style twists in the plot; one minute, he's going to the Lakers, next minute, he's going to the Nets.  No more of that, IT'S OVER!!

As a New York Knick fan myself (I also root for the OKC Thunder, so don't get any ideas), I'm glad that we got him after missing out BIG on the LeBron Sweepstakes of last summer.  Along with Melo, we got Billups, Renaldo Balkman, Anthony Carter and Shelden Williams (even though a lot of people would prefer that they had got Candace Parker instead). 

In return the Knicks gave up Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, a 2014 First Round draft pick, 30 chickens, 4 bulls, a combine harvester, some baseball cards, a Willis Reed throwback jersey........ basically, what I'm saying is that the Knicks went all in to pull off this deal.

Melo led Syracuse to the 2003 national title

Do I feel like the Knicks gave up a lot?  Yes.  I really wish that they could have kept Raymond Felton or at least tried to pull in Ty Lawson (in case you're following, I also root for North Carolina too).  However, with talks about trying to lure Chris Paul to the Big Apple, I'll just have to be glad with what we've got.  Chauncey Billups will be pulling the strings, and I know that he's not the same guy who tore up the Lakers during the 2004 NBA Finals, but there's a reason why he's called "Mr. Big Shot".

While I feel more confident about the Knicks chances of securing a playoff berth, I'm not going to get ahead of myself.  While in Denver, Melo went to the playoffs just about every year, but only once did he make it past the 1st round.  Even then, I'm still scratching my head wondering how come Denver wasn't able to beat the Lakers in Western Conference Finals, because they would have certainly won the NBA title that season.

This might be considered a home coming of sorts.  Even though Carmelo grew up in Baltimore, he was born in Brooklyn, his wife (La La Vasquez) is from Brooklyn.  He played college ball at Syracuse, so he's not going to get lost in New York anytime soon.  With all his past Brooklyn ties, part owner Jay Z (any guess where he's from?) and the Nets (wanna guess where they'll be moving to?) made a pitch for him; one so good that Denver was reported to have accepted. 

However, the Nets are not the Knicks (and vice versa).  I'm not trying to diss the Nets by any means, but I'm just calling it what it is.  For Carmelo, only the bright lights and stage of Madison Square Garden would do.  Broadway has a new star!!  Start spreading the news, he's leaving today; he wants to be a part of it, New York, New York!!

Now that it's over, let's move on already.  And as much as I hope that maybe Stephen A. Smith will finally SHUT UP (ever get the feeling that you're asking for too much sometimes?), I'll just settle for Melo.