Knicks Rumors: New York wants Carmelo Anthony to stay
In what may be the most shocking revelation of the year, the New York Knicks now want Carmelo Anthony to stay with the organization.
Entering the summer of 2017, it appeared to be a foregone conclusion that the New York Knicks would trade Carmelo Anthony. He and Phil Jackson were embroiled in a public feud, and the departure of The Zen Master did little to temper the trade rumors.
After surveying the market, however, it appears as though the Knicks are reconsidering Anthony’s future with the team.
New York has been in trade talks with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets for close to a month. After negotiating with the only two teams that Anthony is willing to waive his no-trade clause for, however, the Knicks have temporarily paused the discussions.
According to Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Knicks may attempt to convince Anthony to stay in New York.
"The New York Knicks are pausing trade talks centered on Carmelo Anthony and want to pursue a conversation with the 10-time NBA All-Star about possibly reincorporating him into the organization, league sources told ESPN.After talking with the Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers for nearly a month to help engineer deals for Anthony, the Knicks told both teams that they’re stepping back from trade talks for a short time, league sources said."
That’s a massive change of tune from what was discussed mere days, if not hours, ago.
Anthony reportedly informed the organization that he’d be willing to waive his no-trade clause in order to join the Cleveland Cavaliers or Houston Rockets. Both teams are short on appealing assets, however, which thus called for third and fourth teams to help facilitate the discussions.
With the trade negotiations failing to gain stable traction, the Knicks are reevaluating the possibility of Anthony remaining in New York.
It’s also worth noting that this report comes on the heels of New York agreeing to terms with Scott Perry to become the team’s next general manager.
With Perry agreeing in principle to take over as general manager, Steve Mills has decided to take a step back and evaluate his options. Unfortunately, it may be a case of too little, too late as far as convincing Anthony to return to New York is concerned.
People around Anthony are claiming that he’s eager to join either Cleveland or Houston, where he’d be teaming up with either LeBron James or Chris Paul—two of his closest friends.
The likelihood of Anthony giving up on the possibility of competing for a championship with one of his friends is unclear.
After years of feuding with former team president Phil Jackson, some have speculated that the bridge has been burned between Anthony and the Knicks. He remains close to Kristaps Porzingis, however, and the recent signing of Tim Hardaway Jr. could pique the 10-time All-Star’s interest.
Anthony played with Hardaway Jr. in 2013-14 and 2014-15. The 25-year-old recently stated that he’d like ‘Melo to stay with the Knicks for the 2017-18 season.
Hardaway Jr. is one of the many current Knicks players who holds Anthony in high esteem as a man and teammate.
Must Read: Five reasons to keep Carmelo Anthony
The question is: Did the New York Knicks cross the point of no return with Carmelo Anthony?