The Daily Nickel

1. Carmelo is officially off the market.  The extension has been signed and the blockbuster deal nets NY with Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, and the great Renaldo Balkman.  Denver gets Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, Wilson Chandler, a 1st round pick, two 2nd round picks and $3mm. 

2. So who won?  Well it ain't New Jersey, who struck out once again.  Most will say NY, since they got the best player (and maybe the best two players...) in the deal.  I would say Denver.  My belief is Melo was going to NY all along regardless, whether by trade or free agency.  Its quite possible NY traded much more than they needed to to get their superstar.  Denver on the other hand avoided losing a stud for nothing, got rid of bad contracts and acquired young talent despite having absolutely no bargaining position.  That's some quality GM'ing if you ask me, especially when seen in comparison to what Cleveland got for Lebron (two 1st round picks, two 2nd round picks) and what Toronto got for Bosh (two 1st round picks).  Denver execs need to mail Mikhail Prokhorov a fruit basket or something....

3. With Carmelo now on board, Amare proclaimed "the Knicks are back."  Of course, he proudly declared that exact same belief right after he signed as a free agent this summer.  Being "back" must mean something different up north, because in Mavsland a 28-26 start would mean panic, firings and the end of an era, not the beginning.

4. The D-Fdub continues to hear rumblings of Devin to Dallas.  NJ reportedly wants Caron's expiring, rookie Dominique Jones, and a 1st round pick for Harris.  The Mavs declined, saying they wouldn't add two assets to Caron's contract.  Of course, this implies they would do a Caron for Devin deal.  Sounds like somebody's getting bad intel here because CB is convinced he "ain't going nowhere."  Portland is the other main pursuer of Devin, reportedly offering Andre Miller.

5. Looks like Troy Murphy will be dealt to Golden State sometime over the next 24 hours, with a buyout to quickly follow.  Dallas, Orlando, Miami and Boston will be his most likely pursuers.  I'll give Orlando the best odds since Murphy's competition for starter minutes at the PF position (Brandon Bass, Ryan Anderson) is the weakest.