New York Knicks: Delaying Carmelo Anthony decision could alienate Kristaps Porzingis

The longer the New York Knicks wait to make a decision on Carmelo Anthony, the more trouble they could encounter with rising star Kristaps Porzingis.

Sans a skipped exit meeting, Kristaps Porzingis has said and done all of the right things during his two years with the New York Knicks. Between his postgame comments, committing to systems that others refuse to, and playing defense when his teammates won’t, Porzingis has been a model player.

As the Knicks near the end of the 2017 NBA offseason, however, the front office is staring down the impending danger of losing Porzingis’ faith and optimism.

Fresh off of firing Porzingis’ favorite assistant coach, Josh Longstaff, the Knicks are considering the possibility of trading the 21-year-old’s mentor: Carmelo Anthony. That alone isn’t necessarily a problem, as organizations make changes with every passing season.

What could prove problematic, however, is the slow and painful manner in which New York is removing the Band-Aid.

Rather than giving Porzingis an offseason to process the departure of both Longstaff and Anthony, the Knicks are flirting with the possibility of his mentor staying in New York. Porzingis is likely aware of how badly Anthony wants to be traded, but that could be a problem unto itself.

Not only is New York teasing Porzingis with the possibility of playing another season with Anthony, but it’s failing to honor the trade request it’s fought so long to acquire.

Prior to Anthony requesting a trade to the Houston Rockets, the Knicks poked and prodded for months on end. Former team president Phil Jackson went as far as publicly stating his belief that Anthony would be better off with another organization—twice.

Through it all, Anthony remained adamant about his desire to remain in New York.

Now that he seems to have come around to playing for a different organization, the Knicks have rescinded their interest in getting a trade done. Porzingis is likely understanding of the fact that the organization has reshuffled its front office, but even that carries an asterisk.

Steve Mills is a carryover from a number of dreadful Knicks eras, including the general manager role he held during Jackson’s tenure as team president.

Thus, while it may be easy to be optimistic about Scott Perry’s front office acumen, Mills is as connected to the Anthony feud as anyone remaining in the organization. He was Jackson’s right-hand man, as well as one of the individuals responsible for the no-trade clause.

Moreover, he was in Jackson’s corner when the discussion arose about whether or not the Knicks should trade Anthony.

A primary reason for the Knicks’ decision to pause trade discussions is the attempt to rebuild Anthony’s market value. That’s an admirable and wise approach to the matter at hand, but the issue still remains.

At the very least, the Knicks need to make contact with Porzingis and make it abundantly clear that Anthony either will or will not be coming back next season.

If they don’t, they’ll be returning to the alienating ways that created the mess with Porzingis.

This is admittedly hypothetical, but the Knicks must commit to a vision before they create an uphill battle for head coach Jeff Hornacek. One could argue that such an issue already exists, but it would become even more of an issue if New York puts this off.

Rather than making Anthony and Porzingis wait this process out, the best approach would be to speak directly to both players and clarify the intentions of the organization.

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It’s plausible that the front office has already addressed the matter at hand, thus rendering this article meaningless, but it’s a topic that must be broached.

The longer the New York Knicks wait to come to a final resolution, the worse it will be for the reincorporation of the temporarily alienated Kristaps Porzingis.