With no rust to shake off, the former Nugget has picked up right where he left off last season. After three games, Anthony is averaging 25.7 points per game. That is one tenth of a point more than his 2010-11 numbers. In his ninth NBA season, the Syracuse product has led his team to the playoffs each year and is also a three-time All-Star.

When then-general manager Donnie Walsh acquired Anthony, he joined Amar’e Stoudemire in the frontcourt and teamed with him to form a bona fide one-two punch. But in today’s NBA, it seems that three superstars are required to challenge for a championship.

Enter Tyson Chandler. The 7’1”, 225-pound center who came to the Knicks from Dallas in a trade after the lockout was lifted fills out the trifecta. Mike D’Antoni recognized that immediately when addressing the media at the press conference announcing the deal.

“Tyson will be the anchor to our defense,” the Knicks head coach said. “The trio of Amar’e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony and Tyson makes one of the most formidable frontlines in the entire league.”

With the Eastern Conference loaded with ‘Big Three’ teams in the aforementioned Celtics (Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen) and the defending conference champion Miami Heat (Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh), the Knicks needed to add an impact player to the mix to put them in elite territory.

But even with Chandler on board, Anthony is the main focus on the hardwood for the Knicks. They will need him to be there every night, as Stoudemire has had injury problems throughout his entire career.

And it seems as if Anthony knew that while awaiting the start of the season.

Photo by Jim Leary

A tough sell has become even tougher due to a rule that was put in place to create parity, but its effect has done nothing but cause parody in the National Basketball Association. The salary cap has destroyed organizations if long-term mistakes happened to be made. No one has paid the price for this as much as the New York Knicks, who have thrown in the towel for the next two years in the hope that they can throw enough money at LeBron James to convince him to resurrect the dead at the World’s Most Famous Arena.

King James (along with Dewayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Amare Stoudemire) hits the open market in 2010 and has become the apple of the Big Apple’s eye with the fantasy of him coming to Manhattan. But until then, the Knicks – and many other teams around the league – will suck on purpose and throw whatever they can on the court, as long as they’ll be packing their bags in the next 24 months.

This way of thinking has not helped a league in need of a marketing boost, something that will bring the fans back that have left or never came. Without a Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan, the NBA has found it difficult to sell its product to the casual fan. For whatever reason, basketball has been hitting a rocky road in gaining more popularity. Some say that it is a hip-hop league and the ‘thug’ reputation has turned off many. Commissioner David Stern has worked diligently to make his sport better, and adjusting the salary cap and how it effects teams should be the first thing that he fixes, which is more important than wearing suits on road trips.

By the time Donnie Walsh is done, the Isiah Thomas era will be nothing more than a bad memory. The new president of the New York Knicks has reportedly traded leading scorer Jamaal Crawford to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for forward Al Harrington, according to Newsday.com.

Former head honcho Thomas acquired Crawford in 2004 from Chicago, with the eight-year pro holding a player option for two more years after the current one on the deal he signed. Harrington’s deal expires after the 2009-10 season. Why is that so important? The Knicks are doing everything possible to clear cap space to make a run at LeBron James, who hits the open market in 2010.

But is this trade just the first of many? Newsday is also reporting that a bigger, three-way deal may be on the horizon.

This menage-a-trois supposedly also involves the hapless Los Angeles Clippers, with Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins packing their bags and clearing space in the locker room for Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas. While this should not get anyone’s pants stained, when you hear that all three (Harrington, Mobley, Thomas) come off the boards by 2010 you may get some movement, if you know what I mean.

Thomas has already been a Knick (and a forgettable one at that), and Mobley has bounced around the league, playing for four teams in 11 seasons.

Randolph has produced since coming to New York, but is a ticking time bomb and makes a ton of money, while Collins’ claim to fame has been brawling with Carmelo Anthony. Two more Isiah mistakes that won’t be missed.

If all of this comes to fruition, then Knick fans may finally feel that something good os brewing at the Garden. It is nearly impossible to watch this team, even though they have played some spirited basketball with new head coach Mike D’Antoni. But the fact remains that there are still slugs like Eddy Curry, Jerome James and Stephon Marbury (did I mention that these three are also here by way of Isiah?) taking up space on the roster. Once these can be redacted, maybe…just maybe the Knicks can shake the label of being the league’s ‘shittiest’ team once and for all.