Carmelo Anthony: ‘I’m not going nowhere’
By William Lee
Carmelo Anthony with a no-trade clause puts an end to the three-team trade rumor.
Recently Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reported that there are “very preliminary discussions” regarding trading New York Knicks‘ superstar Carmelo Anthony.
Melo would depart in a three-team trade with the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers. It is believed that New York would receive draft picks and possibly former-Knick Timofey Mozgov, as per Isola.
According to the Associated Press, Anthony paid no mind to the rumor.
"Anthony found out about the report when a friend back home in Baltimore texted him while he was watching teammate Kristaps Porzingis play in the Rising Stars Challenge. Anthony said he simply put the phone back in his pocket."
SWAG! That is what you can do, when you have a no-trade clause. Just absolutely ignore trade rumors about yourself.
Anthony told SiriusXM NBA Radio that he’s “not going nowhere.” the following day.
During All-Star practice, Anthony reiterated that he is not going anywhere and that he has no idea how and where these rumors originate from. But one thing is clear, he is tired of hearing about all these rumors.
"“I don’t know where it comes from so sometimes it gets to you as a player. Just get tired of hearing something all the time,”“Eventually you get tired of hearing it,”"
Anthony also pointed out that he chose to stay in New York, if he wanted to leave, he could have just left in 2014.
"“I’m not on the run. I could’ve ran somewhere when I was a free agent, you know what I’m saying? I came back for a reason. I came back because I wanted to do this.”"
Anthony reiterated his desire to win the NBA Championship IN New York, the city of his birth place.
"“Doing it in New York is better than doing it any place in the world,”“One in New York is better than multiple somewhere else, so that was the reason I wanted to come to New York. That’s the reason why I’m in New York, so it just bothers me when I started hearing all these trade rumors and trade talks.”"
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Everything he says sounds great, but what if this opportunity to play with his good friend LeBron James and the Cavaliers are true? Honestly, it would just be foolish for him not to waive his no-trade clause and join a perennial Finals team for years to come. The Eastern Conference has been better this year, but no one is picking any other team than Cleveland to come out of the East.
Period. Let’s not forget that Anthony was supposed to be part of the “Big Three” that was in the Miami Heat. It will definitely, be interesting to see if these rumors move from the “preliminary” stage to actual talks. What will Anthony do if this fantasy world comes to fruition?
James also weighed in on the rumor of the three-team trade during All-Star practice, saying flat-out that it was false, as per Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.
"“It’s false. That’s the only thing, I can look at it and say it’s false,”“And that’s the last thing I was worrying about right now, and that’s trade talks for our team.”"
Although James does feel sorry, bad for Anthony’s situation in New York.
"“I feel for any one of my friends,”“Obviously it’s well documented that Carmelo, Dwyane, Chris Paul is my three best guys that we have around this league. I felt for CP last year in the postseason, felt for D-Wade throughout his injuries that he’s had, and then last year having a rough season and not making the playoffs, and I feel for Melo.”"
According to Joe Vardon, a source that is a high-ranking official in the Cleveland organization seconded what James said, that there is no way the three-team trade rumor were true.
"A high-ranking Cavs official said Saturday there was a “zero percent” chance the team would do what it was reportedly seeking to do.“Total nonsense. Absolutely not discussed,” said the source, who was given anonymity to speak freely about team affairs."
Well… there goes the dream of reloading with draft picks… It would have been a dream come true if New York could have surrounded rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis with young talent for years to come, alas… that dream has been burst.
Next: NBA Trade Rumors: Stars Available for the Knicks to Acquire
Hopefully Phil Jackson and the Knicks can figure a way to make it work with the dynamic scorer that is Anthony.