Carmelo Anthony fully intends to opt out of his contract at the end of the year, but he might just be stuck in New York, writes Mitch Lawrence of The New York Daily News. The Lakers are shooting for Kevin Love when he is a free agent in the summer of 2015 and maybe another star in 2016. The Clippers are seeing Blake Griffin evolve into a complete player and probably wouldn’t be willing to trade him, even for a player of Anthony’s caliber. Los Angeles is one of very few markets outside New York where ‘Melo would be willing to take his considerable scoring prowess, opines Lawrence, and neither L.A. team seems like a fit. The Bulls don’t seem to have their eyes on Anthony either, according to the article, so there isn’t another major market in the NBA for Anthony to go to, so that leaves him “stuck” at the Garden.
More on Anthony:
- ‘Melo has very low expectations for what the Knicks will be able to do before the trade deadline, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Anthony stated, “I don’t know man, I don’t know who’s tradeable, who’s on the block. Not many people that I think can come right now in February and change our whole season around. This is a difficult time.”
- Anthony takes losing extremely hard, and Al Iannazzone of Newsday wonders if the team can do enough by the trade deadline to give him a reason to re-sign. Whatever the Knicks do will likely be to help a playoff run this season and put them in position to make future moves. But if the team can’t unload the big salaries of Amar’e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler and Andrea Bargnani, who are all signed through 2014/2015, then it won’t matter if ‘Melo takes a pay cut next season. They would have to hope he would be willing to hang in until 2015, when Rajon Rondo, Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge can become free agents.
- Knicks great Walt Frazier thinks Anthony will stay with the Knicks, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Frazier stated, “Why would Melo leave New York? Where would he go? Where would he go to reach the same fame and acclaim that he’s reached here?” Frazier also mentioned that Anthony was a good businessman, and since the Knicks can pay him the most, it makes sense for ‘Melo to stay in New York.
- If ‘Melo wants to take less money, then he should do it for a team that knows what it is doing, writes Mike Lupica of The New York Daily News. Lupica believes that if Anthony is serious about winning, he should take a pay cut to go to a team with a more competent front office.