CARMELO ANTHONY TRADED TO NEW YORK

‘Melo is a Knick! ‘Melo is a Knick! Put it up in Broadway lights! ‘Melo is a Knick!

The longest soap opera since “Guiding Light” is over. The New York Knickerbockers outbid their cross-river rival New Jersey Nets — of course — in completing a trade for Carmelo Anthony the day after the All-Star Game.

Here’s the mega-blockbuster deal, according to Benjamin Hochman and Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post (and confirmed by TNT’s David Aldridge and NBA.com’s Art Garcia):

The Nuggets traded Melo to the New York Knicks tonight, a league source said. Denver gets Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, the Knicks 2014 first-round draft pick, the Warriors’ 2012 second-round pick, the Warriors’ 2013 second-round pick and $3 million in cash.

Anthony will go to New York, along with Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams,Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman.

Anthony wasn’t with the Nuggets with the resumption of practices Monday. ‘Melo finally gets to New York, his preference all along, and will presumably sign the three-year, $65 million extension that’s been offered since the offseason.

Only instead of signing in the Mile High City, he’s doing it in the Big Apple. ‘Melo will team withAmar’e Stoudemire to give the playoff-contending Knicks a true superstar duo in their bid to move up the Eastern Conference pecking order and close in on Miami, Boston and Chicago in the years to come. New York doesn’t play until Wednesday against Milwaukee at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks, according to the Post report, are also sending Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry to Minnesota. The Nuggets are ready to move on, said guard J.R. Smith:

“I mean, it’s just rebuilding first. We gotta go forward with what we got. And try to do the best we can in the playoffs.”