Carmelo Anthony will make his Knicks debut tonight at MSG, when the revamped team faces off against the Milwaukee Bucks. And everyone from the fans to Coach Mike D'Antoni to star Amare Stoudemire are super pumped: "It's what he wants. It's what I wanted, to come to New York and play on the big stage. He has the same type of swag...Every team needs a 1, 1A punch. And so with the ways that we both can score...we're very versatile, so it's hard to guard us," Stoudemire told reporters. Hell, Carmelo's been a Knick for less than two days, and he already has a Carnegie Deli sandwich named after him, and a reality show with his wife (“La La’s Full Court Life”).

After the deal was finally completed, Anthony, who was raised in Red Hook, tweeted, "Wow just had the craziest 12 hours of my career." Coach D'Antoni said that he thinks the team has moved one step closer to a championship: "There's not many times in this league that you can get a 26-year-old superstar in his prime...Now, we've got two guys in our stable...We know we have two of the best players in the league." Nuggets beat writer Benjamin Hochman, who was the first to break the news of the trade, told ESPN that since the summer, he knew Melo wanted to end up somewhere in NYC: "With the Nets moving to Brooklyn -- where Melo lived until he was nine -- I thought he might buy into the excitement of that move. But he always wanted Manhattan, and even after a sit-down with Proky [Mikhail Prokhorov], Melo wanted the Garden, he wanted Spike [Lee], he wanted Amare and maybe Chris Paul in a couple years. He wanted it all, and he got it."

Fans have echoed the excitement: Knicks ticket prices have skyrocketed since the trade was finalized: average ticket prices for tonight's game against the Bucks shot up from $91 to $260 on StubHub. Team president Donnie Walsh is just trying to make it clear that whatever role Isiah Thomas played in advising MSG owner James Dolan, it was Walsh's decision to pull the trigger on Anthony: "I can care less. There are a lot of people talking to [Dolan]. I could care less." But Walsh is excited about veteran Chauncey Billups, a four-time All-Star who brings nine years of playoff experience to the team: "We're extremely happy to get Chauncey because I think he's a real quality player. I think that losing Raymond [Felton], who I hated to lose, can be supplanted by Chauncey and his experience," said Walsh.

And despite the Deron Williams trade to Jersey, the Knicks aren't necessarily done trading just yet: Walsh said he will continue to seek a center for the team through a trade before Thursday's deadline, and the team has reportedly shown serious interest in Portland Trail Blazer (and former Knick) Marcus Camby.