Carmelo Anthony continues to play in pickup games with his New York Knicks teammates. The latest addition: Incoming rookie Damyean Dotson.
If Carmelo Anthony truly doesn’t want to stay with the New York Knicks, then he’s at least preparing for the worst. Anthony has been taking part in pickup games throughout the summer, but as the 2017-18 season nears, the other players on the court are stealing headlines.
Beyond the likes of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and C.J. McCollum have been a slew of names that Knicks fans are quite familiar with.
Anthony’s pickup games could be of no consequence, but they’re becoming somewhat Knicks-centric. Thus far, the 10-time All-Star has played with the likes of Tim Hardaway Jr., Luke Kornet, Frank Ntilikina, Chasson Randle, and Lance Thomas.
In a post by Anthony’s trainer, Chris Brickley, it was revealed that Anthony has added another Knick to the list: Rookie shooting guard Damyean Dotson.
In other words: Anthony has played pickup games with three Knicks rookies as the 2017-18 NBA regular season nears.
Hardaway Jr., Kornet, Randle, and Thomas also appeared in the pickup game, which brings the list to five Knicks on the court—not including Anthony. Also competing were Jamel Artis, who will join the Knicks at training camp, and Archie Goodwin, who’s a rumored free agency target.
This doesn’t at all guarantee that Anthony is content with playing for the Knicks in 2017-18, but it’s hard not to be intrigued by his inclusion of the new players in his offseason workouts.
If one were to read deep between the lies, it would be fair to surmise that Anthony is preparing for another year in New York.
As always, it’s possible that this is a matter of proximity; Anthony’s pickup games are often held in New York City, where a number of Knicks are preparing for the season. It’s also possible that Anthony is mentoring his teammates, even if he doesn’t want to play for the organization.
Regardless of what the reasoning is, Anthony is spending time on the court with a healthy number of players who will be on the Knicks’ roster in 2017-18.
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Whether or not that’s a sign of things to come, the New York Knicks can be fairly intrigued by Carmelo Anthony and Damyean Dotson taking the court together.