Quietly the New Jersey Nets have set themselves up for better long-term success then their cross-river counterparts! After being used as the third wheel in many trade speculations over the past 18 months the Nets and new owner Mikhail Prokhorov have finally landed a prize player. With the addition of Deron Williams in a trade earlier today the Nets have what they hope will be the key piece in there promise to the fans to be a championship team within five years. Williams is a proven point guard that you can build a team around.

The Carmello Anthony trade may overshadow this trade, but it shouldn’t. The Nets are now set up much better for the future then the Knicks are. The Nets now have a base on which to build around. They have a proven all-star point guard and a solid future all-star center in Brooks Lopez. Although the Nets took a gamble to bring in Williams who will be a free agent in 2012 they didn’t give up much to get him.

So while the Knicks emptied their cupboard to get Carmello and leave little left to work with, the Nets began their quest to Brooklyn with pieces intact. Now all the Nets and Prokhorov have to do is continue building pieces so when they do make the move Williams will be the guy leading the charge.

Once again Jim Dolan has dragged his famed New York Knicks into the doldrums of oblivion. On the surface all is great with Knicks, not only did they land their superstar that will put them on the basketball map for the first time in 15 years, they truly believe they are contenders again in a top heavy Eastern Conference. However the surface is a thin sheet of hardwood, a sheet that will collapse under the increased pressure to win now that Carmello Anthony is in town. The Knicks sold their entire core to the devil and I don’t believe they made a good deal.

The reason the Knicks were in the position they were in has nothing to do with Carmello, or the players or proven GM Donnie Walsh. The reason the Knicks have been floating around in oblivion for so long is because of Dolan! He spent the post Patrick Ewing years trading and selling draft picks for has-beens that ate up salary cap and spent more time on the injury list then on the court. It wasn’t until Walsh showed up did the Knicks become somewhat relevant again, he got rid of the dead weight, he made smart business moves and good draft choice’s he brought excitement back to Madison Square Garden. Then Dolan erased Walsh’s Knicks legacy in a matter of seconds, he took the core and traded it to Denver for Anthony, the same Anthony that refused to sign an extension with the Nuggets, the same Anthony that was never going to accept a trade to the New Jersey Nets, the same Anthony that was going to become a free-agent in June and would hit the open market for the same $65 million dollars the Knicks will be paying him.

Dolan took the Knicks from a 7th seed in the East to a 6th seed in East and traded everything he had to get there. Lets face the facts; the Knicks now have no youth, no draft picks and no way of building around Carmello and Amare Stoudemire. They aren’t going to win a NBA championship as long as the big three are in Boston, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade are in Miami and Kobe Bryant is in the league.
So I ask you Knicks fans, you got Carmello, but was it worth it?

All the focus on New York football this year was on the Jets. They once again reached the AFC Championship, and their trash talking seemed to be almost weekly news. However, the team they share their stadium with, the Giants, fell off the radar. They got back on the radar, but after a horrific collapse against the Eagles, they ended up watching the playoffs on television. It may sound crazy, but the Giants may need to bring back Plaxico Burress.

Burress has been in jail due to having a weapon on him in public without a license. While Hakeem Nicks and Steve Smith are good wide receivers, they do not create the possibilities that Burress does. Burress has such a height advantage, that he often draws double teams. And considering Eli Manning easily had the most interceptions in the NFL this year, he could use a target like that. Especially in the red zone, Burress can leap easily over his defender. Eli had a down year, but bringing back Burress from jail could be a step in the right direction.

Carmelo Anthony has been the most talked about name in the NBA for the past few months. This is in large part due to his supposed desire to play in New York, and New York’s fans to have him play in Madison Square Garden. Recent rumors involve a three-way trade with Denver, New York, and Minnesota. But in reality, it is likely one of Chris Broussard’s “sources” just saying anything to get more trade talk out.

The bottom line is that the Knicks need to be extremely active. There is a decent chance that if Anthony finishes out the season in Denver that he will land in New York. But with a superstar like Anthony, the Knicks cannot leave it up to chance. Even though they claim to be out, the Nets could easily maneuver their way back in. Maybe backing off was a way for Denver to come back to the Nets and demand less in return. Wilson Chandler and a draft pick is not going to cut it for a top player in the NBA. The Knicks better pull through, because every day that goes by, business becomes more risky.