Amar’e Stoudemire may, at some point over his last three decades of life, have stayed at a Holiday Inn one night. But that doesn’t mean he parades around claiming to know things he doesn’t.
Because he doesn’t.
Speaking on ESPN Radio’s The Herd with Cowerd, the New York Knicks forward was asked if he thought Carmelo Anthony would re-sign with the team. Per ESPN New York’s Ian Begley, he was straight with his answers—no gimmicks, no sugarcoating, no nothing:
“It’s best for us (as teammates) to kind of stay out of his,” Stoudemire says.
Still, Stoudemire, like everyone else in New York, has an opinion on where Anthony may go in free agency this summer.
He thinks Carmelo’s going to remain a Knick, but he’s not 100 percent sure. “My gut feeling is that Carmelo will be staying,” Stoudemire said earlier this week on ESPN Radio’s “The Herd with Colin Cowherd.” “That’s my gut feeling right now today but I’m not totally sure.”
Three cheers for STAT’s honesty.
Another six cheers because he’s right.
No one is quite sure what Anthony will do. Anthony himself isn’t even sure. Although he’s met with team president Phil Jackson already, he’ll want to hear other sales pitches and see other opportunities. Then he’ll make his decision.
At this point, with the free-agency picture as it is, Anthony doesn’t have a whole lot of options if he wishes to stay in a big market. The idea of him signing with the Los Angeles Lakers to make nice with a 35-going-on-36-year-old Kobe Bryant is fun to discuss over cocktails that can be set on fire, but it’s inane beyond that. The Houston Rockets will be an intriguing suitor if they can create enough cap space. The Chicago Bulls will be too, assuming they can also guarantee the well-being of Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose. Which they can’t.
Don’t confuse the latter thought as trolling. I’m not trolling. The Bulls just aren’t as promising a threat as people believe. Do I think the Knicks keep Anthony? Yes. Do I think they are, as currently constructed, the best team for him? Not at all. Are the Bulls the best team for him? Not even close.
We can split hairs over the details all you want. Argue your point. Call me a rat bastard. I don’t care. You will not convince me Anthony should sign with a Bulls team that, to even afford ‘Melo, must first part ways with some coveted depth before asking the Knicks superstar to accept a substantial pay cut to play alongside the wildly talented, yet injury-prone Rose and Noah.
But I digress…
This summer is big for Anthony and the Knicks. If they cannot find common ground, changes will abound. The Knicks expect ‘Melo to take a pay cut. Let’s see if that happens. From where I’m standing, it makes sense for Anthony to accept less. Anything that allows the Knicks to increase their spending power come summer 2015 makes sense. Yet it’s also ballsy of the Knicks to ask Anthony to take less. They’re coming off a craptastic season that saw ‘Melo play his ass off, slog through J.R. Smith’s B.S., endure Tyson Chandler’s decision to seemingly stop trying and labor through Mike Woodson’s questionable rotations and deliberate mandate that Anthony play an obscene number of minutes all the time.
After all that, if Jackson comes at Anthony telling him to take $2, 3, 5 or 7-plus million less annually, the All-Star could tell him to screw off. Or, being the chivalrous, loyal scorer that he is, he could also welcome the opportunity to build up something in New York by way of financial sacrifice.
We’ll see what happens.
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.
