Carmelo Anthony has no plans to abandon the New York Knicks.
Part of that’s because he’s under contract for the next four years. On top of that, he owns a no-trade clause, giving him final say over where he could be traded, severely limiting the number of suitors the Knicks can contact, as well as the return they can seek. On top of that still, he’s 31 years old and working his way back from knee surgery. Even if he and the Knicks were ready to sever ties, there are few, if any, teams that would be willing to roll the dice on his contract and health and subsequent future.
Beyond those caveats, though, Anthony has no plans to leave the Knicks. He said as much as the Knicks closed out training camp, per the New York Post‘s Marc Berman:
Whether Anthony, if he were general manager, would have selected Justise Winslow, Emmanuel Mudiay or Stanley Johnson over Porzingis at No. 4 is irrelevant. Anthony still claims to be bent on remaining a Knick for a long while.
When a reporter joked if they will have to cover another free agency in four years, Anthony laughed and said, “I’m here to stay.’’
[Waits for confetti to stop falling in New York.]
[Also waits for Melo cynics to stop crying/screaming profanities.]
It’s good that Anthony said this, as pointless as it may seem given his contract situation. It wasn’t too long ago that, per multiple reports, Melo may have been unhappy with the Knicks’ selection of Kristaps Porzingis and their general direction. Pledging his allegiance to the Big Apple kills that speculation, at least for the first few months of the season, when it’s not entirely clear how good or bad the Knicks will be.
Down the line, sure, Anthony could grow unhappy. The Knicks could fall out of the Eastern Conference’s playoff picture entirely, and he could demand a trade, causing a distracting ruckus regardless of whether Phil Jackson bites the bullet and unloads him for whatever he can get.
But now is more important. And right now, while optimism is available in unlimited supply league-wide, Anthony is on board with the Knicks, with their direction, and, per Berman, with his ability to remain a superstar for the next half-decade:
“Surgery was scary,’’ Anthony said. “I wasn’t a guy who went straight to surgery for anything. Taking care of this put me in position to perform at a high level for the next 4, 5 years.’’
And beyond.
“If I was a guy who played above the rim or at a fast pace, running and jumping, very athletic, I’d be singing a different tune,’’ Anthony said. “The way I know how to pace myself, not a guy who plays above the rim on every play, it works in my favor.’’
Anthony’s play will go a long way in determining what his future with the Knicks holds. If he can continue to be his dominant offensive self beside the new crop of defensive talent Jackson has placed around him, New York has a chance, albeit still a slim one, of hanging with the East’s playoff bubble immediately.
If he can’t, then the Knicks are in for another long year. And if they’re in for another long year, or years, the anonymous sources will come out to play, and Anthony’s future in New York will circle back to the state of uncertainty it appeared to enter, even if artificially, when the Knicks mapped out a new, big-picture-oriented direction in June.
