New York Basketball Is Back

Last night, New York basketball was born again, or at least so we think.

Around 11 pm last night, news broke that the Knicks had acquired Carmelo Anthony in a blockbuster trade. The Knicks gave up Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov, a 2014 first round draft pick and $3 million for Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and former Knick Renaldo Balkman.

Some Knick fans are lamenting the loss of Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, complaining that the Knicks gave up to much for one guy. They are upset about all the "fake" Knick fans coming out and supporting the trade and the team. Well you know what I say? Let 'em, let the people who have not been to or watched a game in years, pull their Knick jerseys out of the back of their closets and make a mad rush on Madison Square Garden for games. The Garden needs to be back to being the arena it was in the 90s, full of life and most importantly, hosting a good basketball team.

One of the most important thing to realize when looking at this trade is that essentially, the Knicks are giving up Gallinari, Felton, Mozgov and a first round pick for Carmelo, Billups and the rest of the gang. You have to discount Chandler because he becomes a restricted free agent this off-season, and had the Knicks not included him in the trade and had still gotten Melo, they would not have been able to re-sign Chandler anyway. Also, Felton was not going to be a long-term Knick; whether or not the Knicks traded for Melo, they surely would have been gunning for Chris Paul or another big time point guard in the off-season or future. Then there is Timofey Mozgov who despite a 23 point, 14 rebound game a couple of weeks ago, does not seem to have much potential. The only real big loss here is Danilo, who was a great, developing young player, despite being doubted coming into the league by many (including me).

Let's not forget that the Knicks are not only getting Carmelo; Chauncey Billups isn't chopped liver. Granted he's 34 years old but he has had two of his best years the past two seasons with Denver. For the past eight full seasons that he has had (not counting 2008-09 when he only played in two games) he has averaged above 16 points per game, and so far, this season has been his best ever scoring-wise. Felton is younger and is also having a great year but the Knicks needed veteran leadership, which is what Billups can provide.

New York City is not a football town, and it's not even a baseball town; at its core, New York is a basketball town, and it finally deserves to have some star power again. It sounds and probably is ethnocentric coming from a New Yorker, but New York is not supposed to have some middle-of-the-road team with boring, middle-of-the-road players playing in the most famous arena and the most famous city in the world. Even if the Knicks did have to dump what seems like their whole roster to get Melo, they needed another big name, and now they have set themselves up to acquire another big name this off-season; some rumors have included Chris Paul and Dwight Howard coming to Broadway. Of course it could be tough to pay another star, with the tumultuous labor situation in the NBA, and a hard salary cap looking likely, but at least the Knicks are finally in a good position to get some talent to surround a solid core.

The Knicks are not the only New York team who is back in action after a decade-long hiatus. The St. John's Red Storm found its way into the Top 25 this week for the first time in 11 years. Under the leadership of Steve Lavin, the Johnnies have made college basketball relevant again in NYC. The Red Storm, at 17-9 overall and 9-5 in the conference, should have as strong of a resume as anyone going into the conference tournaments, especially with wins over then-No. 13 Georgetown, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 3 Duke, No. 10 UConn and most recently, No. 4 Pittsburgh.

The Red Storm have not made the NCAA Tournament since 2002, and being a team with nine seniors, this may be the year they make some noise in the tourney. Of course, if they do not do it this year, like the Knicks, they are set up to keep winning for a long time. So far this year, Steve Lavin, has pulled together the second best recruiting class in the nation according to ESPN.com, with six players from ESPNU's Top 100 recruits.

It will be tough to tell what the future exactly holds for the Knicks and the Red Storm, two teams that know all to well what it is like to have their dreams and high hopes shattered. Let's face it, the Knicks are still terrible defensively and may not be able to get another big name this off-season, while the Red Storm are losing nine proven seniors this year, and welcoming six highly-ranked but still unproven freshmen. Still, with Carmelo and A'mare it would be tough for the Knicks to falter and not be a top team within a few years and with the Red Storm, it seems as if they are back on their way to becoming the Beast of the Big East that they haven't been in ten, arguably twenty-five years.

The cynics and pessimists have every right to question how good New York basketball will really be in the future after the suffering of the last decade, but with the talent assembled recently by both teams and the position of New York as the Mecca of Basketball, I think it is safe to say that Madison Square Garden is back to being alive and very, very well.