GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Players like Carmelo Anthony don’t come cheap, and many times they don’t come around at all.

So even though it cost much of their core, the New York Knicks couldn’t pass up a chance to pair him with Amare Stoudemire.

“I think this puts us in a way ahead of everything, because these are the kind of guys that are really hard to get,” Knicks president Donnie Walsh said. “Whether it’s in the free agent market or whether they’re in a trade, they’re very difficult to get. And they’re guys that can go out there and get 30 to 40 points in a playoff game.”

Yes, the Knicks are talking about the playoffs.

And they think the three-team, 13-player deal they completed Tuesday with Denver and Minnesota will make them better when they get there.

“When you go out hunting, would you rather have a bigger gun or a little gun?” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We got a bigger gun.”

Anthony, who signed a three-year, $65 million extension before the deal was finalized, will join fellow All-Star Stoudemire in the frontcourt, giving the Knicks the potent duo they hoped they could assemble last summer in free agency.

“We liked the way our team played this year and I looked at it and I thought we had one piece that was at the high level of the league. We always wanted two pieces at least,” Walsh said.

Stoudemire has led the Knicks to a 28-26 record this season, but said they will be even more dangerous with Anthony bringing his 25.2 points per game to join his 26.1 average.

“Every team needs a 1, 1A punch,” Stoudemire said. “And so with the ways that we both can score .... we’re very versatile, so it’s hard to guard us.”

The Knicks also got guards Chauncey Billups and Anthony Carter, and forwards Renaldo Balkman and Shelden Williams from Denver. New York dealt forwards Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari, guard Raymond Felton and center Timofey Mozgov to the Nuggets.

New York also shipped centers Eddy Curry and Anthony Randolph to Minnesota for forward Corey Brewer. Denver acquired center Kosta Koufos from Minnesota, plus New York’s first-round draft pick in 2014, second-round picks in 2012 and 2013 and cash.