/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/6923965/20120512_jla_aj4_941.jpg)
Since there isn't much going on with the Knicks at the moment, and since yesterday's thread gravitated toward this anyway, I figured I'd open up a morning thread for the massive non-Knicks trade that's being processed this morning. Here are the particulars of said trade, in case you haven't been paying attention:
The Lakers get: Dwight Howard
The Nuggets get: Andre Iguodala
The 76ers get: Andrew Bynum, Jason Richardson
The Magic get: Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless, some picks
The Knicks get: An olive (didn't have to give up anything, either!)
There are probably some Chris Duhons and Earl Clarks involved as well, but the above is pretty much the meat of the deal, according to all the places. It's not done yet, so there could be more or fewer assets involved, or it could not happen at all, or it could happen but with collies wearing wigs instead of basketball players.
The consensus I've seen around the internet is that everybody in this trade but the Magic came out looking pretty good. Whenever deals like this happen, I tend to be the one who's like "Hold your horses! What if Howard's spine falls out of his butt and Afflalo and Harkless turn out to be All-Stars?", but yeah, based on current "market value" and stuff like that, it does seem like Orlando got hosed, particularly after slogging through many months of offers.
With the Knicks in mind, I suppose we should be most concerned with the Sixers, since they're in the Atlantic and make up about 5 percent of the Knicks' schedule. Right? I have no idea whether this will improve Philly's record or not, but I think the Knicks might match up better with them now than they did before. Iguodala has always been frightening, while having Tyson Chandler around to tuck us in at night makes me uniformly less afraid of centers like Bynum. Also, St. John's/Knicks fans now get to feel mixed feelings about Harkless opposing the Knicks just twice instead of four times a year. it was mostly Elton Brand's dastardly 10-footers that troubled the Knicks, anyway, and he's gone (and Lou Williams, too!). I'm sure the Sixers will be solid, but I think New York could match up better with them than they used to after this trade.
Most of all, I hope Carmelo Anthony is being kind to Iguodala in London right now. I hope he's telling him about all the good brunch spots and discreet outdoor peeing locations in Denver.
So yeah, that's my groggy, first-thing-in-the-morning read of the trade, and I'm mostly concerned with how anything affects the Knicks. Leave your own considerably more intelligent thoughts in the comments. More stuff later, plus a thread when the U.S. takes on Argentina this afternoon. <3.