'Melo is finally a Knick. And while some people seem to think that the Knicks gave up too much in the deal, I'm just not seeing it. Also, I just have a hard time seeing how Donnie Walsh is somehow a victim here. While Landry Fields has somewhat saved Walsh's reputation for drafting, he set the Knicks back by rolling the dice on Danilo Gallinari instead of taking the more obvious picks in Eric Gordon or Brook Lopez. He then had a lotto pick in one of the better point guard drafts in recent memory but passed on Brandon Jennings, Jrue Holiday, Darren Collison, etc. to take Jordan Hill. But the move that really makes me lost any sympathy for Walsh was last year's cap slashing deal in which he gave up Hill, the right to swap his 2011 pick and the rights to his 2012 pick just to dump one year of Jared Jeffries contract. When you push all in to go after LeBron like that, I just find it hard to a year later, after missing out on LeBron, to go crazy about the Knicks offering too much for 'Melo (especially when "too much" is the so-so prospect of Timofey Mozgov. (Also, the Knicks managed to hold on to the one prospect they really liked, Landry Fields.)

Also, the Knicks didn't really lose anyone. Wilson Chandler was gone after this year, Anthony Randolph was never in the plans, the 2014 pick will likely be a late first and those picks can be easily bought for 2 or 3 million, and the Knicks would probably have had to renounce the rights to Gallinari if they were going to go after Chris Paul and Deron Williams in 2012. And since CP3 in 2012 is the main goal, Felton vs. Billups is inconsequential. Chauncey is about as good as Ray right now and neither of them are in the future plans.

All this being said, the real question is how much better the Knicks will be with Carmelo? Financially, they'll be a lot better since the Knicks will be selling out, can probably raise ticket prices and still sell out, and will be selling a lot more 'Melo jerseys than Gallo shirts. But is Amar'e THAT much better than Nene that the Knicks will have a better fate than the Nuggets? For this year, I'm not really seeing it. New York could be able to take down the Magic but I think they're still a notch below Boston, Miami, and Chicago. Still, I don't think the Knicks could have waited since the Nets could have made a deal this offseason to bolster their roster and 'Melo might have realized that going to the Clippers was actually the smartest move for him, talent-wise. The Knicks didn't make the shrewdest of deals but they made a trade that they needed to make and one that Walsh had already sold out for.