Who benefited the most - Nuggets or Knicks?

Last Night, the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets finalized the deal that sent Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Reynaldo Blackman to the Knicks for Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov, a first round draft pick, two second round draft pick and $3 million in cash. The blockbuster deal, which has been the talked of the NBA, has finally happen.

So who truly benefited from these trade?

I am pretty certain your first choice would be the New York Knicks. Why not? They got another legitimate scorer in Carmelo to partner along with Amare Stoudemaire which would make a fearsome forward duo. And they got a veteran point guard in Chauncey Billups who knows how to win games. The Knicks would surely sell tickets and merchandises especially at Madison Square Garden but that does not mean it would result into many wins. Melo and Billups combine for an average of 41.7 points per game but that average would surely go down with both players have to share the ball with Amare.

Coach D'Antonio likes to run the ball (i.e. When he coached the Suns) and Billups does not have the quickness that he used to be except if suddenly experience a Steve Nash type of resurgence. And now with two scorers, who would you run the play to during crucial moments of the game?

The Knicks gave up their young guns in Felton, Gallinari and Chandler. The trio combined an average of 49.4 points per game. And have been an integral part of the Knicks resurgence this season. You can already see the discrepancy there when it come to scoring.

The Nuggets loss scoring and leadership in the locker room but got younger and deeper with Felton, Gallinari, Chandler and Mozgov. They got a legit point guard in Felton, a versatile big men in Gallinari and an athletic forward in Chandler. But the Nuggets have already a starting point guard in Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton will probably be relegated to a back up guard. Danilo Gallinari and Timofey Mozgov are not as athletic and versatile as Melo while Chandler would be competing for minutes with Smith.

But what the Nuggets loss in star power, they gain in money and the future.

As I previously stated, the players they traded are all young players with the oldest being 26. And they are all "tradable" asset because of their expiring contracts (Chandler, Felton and Mozgov will become free agents next year) and their salaries are "affordable." And the Nuggets have depth so losing these players to trades or free agency wont hurt much as losing Carmelo. And remember, they also got three future draft picks

As for cost savings, the Nuggets got $3 million in cash. And its not that all, according to Jeremy of Roundball Mining Company Blog, the Nuggets will save over $17 in salary which would definitely bring down, if not, saved them money on shelling out for the luxury tax. He also commented how Dan Feldman of the Detriot blog Piston Powered estimated that the Nuggets will save about $35 million over the next three seasons.

So if you are talking about Star power, then the New York Knicks is definitely the clear winner. But if you are talking about long-range goals and cost savings, the Denver Nuggets won the trade.