New York Knicks head coach Mike Woodson isn’t happy that the Chicago Bulls’ Joakim Noah is trying to sell Carmelo Anthony on The Windy City.
Because, duh.
ESPN’s Chris Broussard brought word on Thursday that Noah started selling Anthony on Chicago while the two were in New Orleans for the NBA All-Star Game:
Well, over All-Star weekend, I’m told by a person with knowledge of the conversation that Joakim Noah recruited Carmelo. Now, you’ll probably hear denials out of Chicago if they talk about it, because it would be tampering officially. But I’m told that Joakim said to Melo, ‘Look, you could go to Los Angeles, but if you want to win a ring, if you want your legacy to be about winning, come to Chicago.’
Per Broussard, Anthony was receptive, but non-committal. And per the New York Daily News‘ Mitch Lawrence, Woodson was pissed:
“You know legally, nobody can recruit anyone,” Woodson said in a radio appearance on ESPN 98.7. “You can’t do that at this point. Melo is still wearing a Knicks uniform and I hope he stays with the Knicks for the rest of his career. So whatever was said between Noah and the Chicago Bulls, that’s on them.”
Indeed it is. What Noah allegedly did qualifies as tampering. But we don’t even know if he actually did it. Even after Broussard’s report, it’s all very mysterious.
We do know that Woodson was predictably unhappy. Anthony plays for his team. He’s the best player on his team. He’s the only superstar Woodson’s team has. Of course he’s going to be pissed if this is actually happening.
Truth be told, it may not be Woodson’s problem much longer. Woodson has said he believes Anthony will stick around on more than one occasion, but it’s unclear if Woodson himself will even be sticking around.
Scratch that, actually. It’s slightly clear: Woodson is gone. If he’s still haunting the sidelines in New York next season, we should all be shocked.
Regardless of how the Knicks end their season—playoffs or lottery finish, sans the draft pick—it’s going to be considered a failure. This team was supposed to contend, not cling to dwindling playoff hopes.
As the coach, Woodson is partially responsible. The Knicks have collectively sucked, but Woodson’s offensive and defensive systems, and penchant for fielding awful lineups, has hurt them too.
But this is more than about Woodson’s shortcomings. Owner James Dolan is going to be looking for a scapegoat when this season is over, leaving him with Woodson.
The Knicks don’t have cap space to sign another star, nor do they have the trade assets necessary to acquire one from another team. The biggest move they can make is firing Woodson before attempting to woo a big name coach.
Still, to Woodson’s credit, he’s never once not taken ownership of the Knicks. He still believes he’s the man for the job (eh) and has been nothing if not fiercely loyal to Anthony. Sensing that Noah and the Bulls are moving in on his turf, he’s naturally angry. Behind closed doors, he may even be belligerent. Who knows?
Tampering or no tampering, all questions will be answered soon enough. Free agency is just around the corner and it’s then we’ll see if Noah’s All-Star weekended sales pitch paid off. That’s all assuming the Bulls create enough cap space to sign Anthony, which they have to move heaven, earth and some combination of Taj Gibson, Carlos Boozer and Mike Dunleavy to do. They might even have to move all three.
Rest assured, it’s too early to tell what the Bulls will do or how fondly Anthony actually views them. All the Knicks and Woodson can do is wait, hoping their dismal season doesn’t leave a bad, I-need-to-escape-New-York-right-now taste in Anthony’s mouth this summer.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
