The Decision 2.0

Last night, the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes finally came to an end in a three team trade involving the Nuggets, Knicks and Timberwolves. The Denver Nuggets sent 'Melo' to the New York Knicks for Galignari, Felton, Chandler, Mosgov, three draft picks, $3 million, an arm, and a leg. The Knicks did receive five other players alongside Carmelo, most notably veteran point guard Chauncey Billups. Also, the Knicks were able to clear up some cap room by sending Eddy Curry and Anthony Randolph to the T-Wolves for Corey Brewer.

The whole 'Melo' ordeal, which took All-Star Weekend, and much of the NBA season, hostage, was beginning to feel like "The Decision 2.0". Every day a new report came out declaring where Anthony was headed based off details as insignificant as what color socks 'Melo' was wearing that day or what he ate for breakfast. (No, seriously, even Conan did a bit last night asking 'Melo' which he preferred, Denver omeletes, New Jersey salt water taffy, or Manhattan clam chowder.)

"The Decision 2.0" was in some ways more tedious than the Lebron version this past off-season, because 'Melo's' ordeal was more complicated. Carmelo clearly wanted to go to the Knicks but was still under contract, unlike Lebron who was free to go as he pleased. 'Melo' would've been a free man at the end of the season, but the lack of a collective bargaining agreement after this year means the future of the NBA is uncertain. He needed to get paid now and couldn't risk going into the off-season without a contract. This gave the Nuggets that all important bargaining tool, 'leverage'. Ultimately, the Knicks were left with no other options if they wanted Carmelo. They would have to give the Nuggets pretty much any piece they wanted in the deal.

In the end, both teams should feel relatively pleased with the way things ended up in this deal. Sure, Denver lost one of the 10 biggest superstars in the NBA, but they were going to lose him anyway. At least the Nuggets, unlike the Cavs with Lebron, were left with a very nice severance package. Although they were a perennial playoff team with Carmelo, they were hardly ever considered a real title contender. Without him, they definitely won't be a title contender, so things really haven't changed. Now, they have a lot of young talent they can start to build with (or 'reinvent with' as George Karl said multiple times last night).

As far as the Knicks are concerned, the benefits of this trade may take awhile to come to fruition. The Knicks are currently hovering around .500 and are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Maybe, they catch the Hawks in 5th place, but it's hard to imagine them grabbing a top three seed, meaning they will have to play either the Celtics, Heat, Bulls, or Magic in the first round. Without having an off-season to gel and a few more critical pieces added to the puzzle (a low post defender for example) the Knicks just aren't as good as the elite teams in the East...yet.

Eventually, I think this will end up being a great deal for the Knicks. You can't pass up the opportunity to acquire an unbelievable offensive talent like Carmelo, especially when you already have a stud like Stoudemire on your roster. The stars of the NBA are aligning, literally, and the Knicks are wisely following suit. With Carmelo, the Knicks are now a Chris Paul or Deron Williams away from being the next 'big 3'. Both of them also happen to have expiring contracts, which gives us all "The Decision 3.0" to look forward to next year...if there is a next year.

Why Everyone Should Be a Clippers Fan Tonight.

Which will undoubtedly be the last time I ever do this, I'm going to give you two reason to watch and root for the Clippers tonight.

Reason 1:
This year, unlike any of the past 20, there is actually a reason to watch the Los Angeles Clippers night in and night out. BLAKE GRIFFIN! This guy is a beast. There are few rookies that impress you so much with a combination of skill and physical stature. Now, there have been plenty of rookies with great talent in recent years, some with a lot more talent than Griffin. Kevin Durant was ballin' the first day he stepped onto an NBA court. But Durant doesn't exactly 'WOW' you with his physical presence. His limbs look like they would stand no chance in a D.C. ice storm. Blake is overflowing with raw talent, but also looks like a man when he walks out onto the floor. A man that could shatter the backboard at any minute. There are only two others that really come to mind when talking about a rookie with this combination of talent and beastliness, Shaq and Lebron. Now, I present to you the next first-name-only phenom...BLAKE.

Reason 2:
The second reason to pay attention to tonight's game, in my opinion, is by the far the more important reason. If the Clippers defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight, it will be the 27th straight loss for the ailing Cavs, setting a North American pro sports record for consecutive losses. Now, I'm not the type that wishes failure upon others (not regularly anyway), but a Cavs loss tonight will set up the perfect storm of awfulness on Sunday. My beloved Washington Wizards travel to Cleveland on Sunday riding their own extraordinarily unimpressive streak, 25 straight road losses. When is the last time we've seen two streaks of this nature come head-to-head like this? One of these two streaks, which are both more than 30% of an NBA season, would have to come to an end on Sunday, at the bigger loser's expense (lets be honest, the winner of this game is still a loser). The winner will pop champagne and celebrate like world champions at center court. The losers(who should just be abolished at this point) will have to live with their never-ending streak of embarrassment for at least one more day.

Who wouldn't want to watch this game? Call it the toilet bowl, air it on prime-time national television, let the humility ensue. It's time we embrace the losers as well as the winners. Now, that I've hyped up this great showdown of mediocrity, we all need to pray for one thing tonight; a Clippers victory. Without one, this whole spectacle becomes obsolete, and more importantly, this post will have been a complete waste of my time. So for now...GO CLIPPERS!

Shout out to Tony Kornheiser for inspiring this article.