Yahoo! Sports NBA reporter Marc J. Spears is reporting that Carmelo Anthony is on the verge of a deal that will send him to the New York Knicks. According to Spears, the trade could go down as early as tonight. The reported deal would send Anthony, Chauncey Billups and some filler to the Knicks for a package which could include Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, and Timofey Mozgov.
Mosgov, who is a 7-1 rookie center from Russia, who the Knicks have reportedly balked at including in a deal throughout this whole process. As the trade deadlines nears however, reports are that the Knicks have capitulated and will send the suddenly sought after rookie center as part of the deal. In all likelihood, this deal will be the first in a series of dominoes to fall. Several reports suggest that the Nuggets will end up flipping a few pieces from the Knicks deal to the Nets.
How does this affect the Sixers? That depends. As far as playoff seeding, probably not a whole lot. The Knicks sit two games ahead of the Sixers in the Eastern conference, while both teams are over 6 games behind the Hawks. Maybe the Knicks could edge up to #5, but that won't have any affect on the Sixers, who are probably a lock to face one of the top three teams.
For the future, it's more significant. Carmelo wants to be in New York and the Knicks have the money to sign him, so in all likelihood the duo of Anthony and Amar'e Stoudamire will in the Eastern conference for years to come. I'm not sure that the trade puts the Knicks in the league of Boston, Miami or Chicago in the East, but it does push them clearly over the Sixers. Prior to the trade, the Knicks, despite getting more buzz around the league, were only a marginally better team at best. With Melo & Amar'e... they're potent.