It's no secret that the New York Knicks have long been looking to trade star forward Carmelo Anthony, but in true Knicks fashion they still managed to shock the NBA world when the deal finally went down.

On Saturday the Knicks reportedly agreed to send Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-round draft pick via the Chicago Bulls.

The Thunder have added another superstar (albeit an aging one) to their newly formed dynamic duo of Russell Westbrook and Paul George, but we're not here to talk about the Thunder. We're here to talk about the new era of basketball in New York, and the 7-foot-3 unicorn the entire city is now hoping to ride to the promised land.

No, it's not fair value ... but that's not the point

Knowing Knicks fans' penchant for overreaction, they're likely not too happy with the return on this deal. Even at this stage in Melo's career, a package centered around Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott doesn't even approach fair value. But what were the Knicks going to do? They had an aging, ball-dominant superstar with a large contract ($26 million next season, nearly $28 million in 2018-19 if he doesn't opt out), and on top of that he possessed one of the league's only no-trade clauses. They desperately tried to grant Anthony's wish to go to the Rockets earlier this summer, but continually came up short. Earlier this week Anthony reportedly expressed his desire to be traded before the start of training camp and handed the Knicks an expanded list of cities he'd be willing to go, so president Steve Mills, general manager Scott Perry and the Knicks' front office had a rapidly closing window.

Thanks to some heavy persuasion from Westbrook and George, Anthony was happy to accept a trade to the Thunder and the Knicks are happy to be rid of him. McDermott will give New York some much-needed shooting from the wing and create drive-and-kick opportunities for Tim Hardaway Jr., Ron Baker and Frank Ntilikina. Kanter is a straight bucket-getter in the post who can anchor the Knicks' second unit offensively. The Knicks weren't going to walk away with fair value for Anthony under any circumstances, so getting two players on short-term contracts who can help them put a watchable product on the court for next season is all that mattered. Mission accomplished.

The Kristaps era has begun

Just months into Kristaps Porzingis' rookie season, the writing was on the wall. The Knicks were his franchise, and Melo was just a placeholder until the 7-foot-3 versatile Latvian was ready to take the reins. Well, whether he's ready or not, the reins are now in his hands.

Porzingis averaged 18.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game last season, his second in the NBA. We can expect those averages to improve with Anthony gone, but can also expect an adjustment to being the bona fide number one option on a team with no other proven stars. Defenses can spend the majority of their energy attacking Porzingis with different looks and physical bodies, so we'll see quickly whether Porzingis' highly publicized summer workout routine has done the trick.

Another possible impediment to Kristaps' development: The Knicks seem intent on playing him at power forward. With the addition of Kanter, New York now has four centers on the roster (Kanter, Joakim Noah, Willy Hernangomez and Kyle O'Quinn), which means that Porzingis will likely be playing alongside at least one of them every single minute that he's on the court. With his size, agility and shooting ability, Porzingis seems to fit the bill for a perfect small-ball five in the modern NBA, but we likely won't see that this season.

So, when will the Knicks be good again?

New York is in a much better position than it was with Carmelo, but don't be fooled into thinking that this is going to be a quick turnaround. Porzingis will have a steep learning curve as the No. 1 option, Hernangomez and Hardaway Jr. will have to prove they can carry the scoring load for prolonged periods of time and the 19-year-old Ntilikina will have to at least show signs of being a potential franchise point guard for the city to be optimistic.

The Knicks will be in no hurry to win with Marvin Bagley and Michael Porter Jr. sitting at the top of next year's draft board, so you can expect a long, meticulous rebuild. The good news is that now, after plenty of delays, it's finally underway.