Knicks president Phil Jackson is wasting the prime of Carmelo Anthony‘s career by failing to bring another star to New York, charges Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Bondy relates a story that Portland free agent LaMarcus Aldridge had legitimate interest in joining the Knicks last summer after Anthony recruited him, but Jackson demanded that Aldridge play center to make room for newly drafted power forward Kristaps Porzingis. Aldridge responded by canceling his meeting. “When I heard that, I didn’t know that,” Anthony said. “I took my headband and threw it.”
Bondy also jabs Jackson for letting another trade deadline pass without making a major move and says the team president isn’t fully committed to either winning now with Anthony or rebuilding with younger players. The columnist expects several teams to take a shot at trading for Anthony during the offseason, and says Jackson is pushing away a star who would prefer to remain in New York.
There’s more this morning from New York City:
- Jackson may have to sign a significant free agent this summer to keep Anthony happy, according to Harvey Araton of The New York Post. Araton speculates that Anthony sees “diminishing value” in staying with the Knicks through the end of his contract, which runs through the 2018/19 season. Miami could be a destination that would entice Anthony to waive his no-trade cause, Araton writes, as Heat president Pat Riley could promise a talented roster and a playoff spot.
- Rookie point guard Jerian Grant wouldn’t mind being sent to the D-League if it means more playing time, writes Fred Kerber of The New York Post. Grant has appeared in just three games since Kurt Rambis took over as interim coach but has performed well, with a combined 20 points and 10 assists. The Knicks prefer to keep Grant on the main roster, but he’ll be all right with a demotion if it means more time on the court. “I talked to coach about it a little bit,” Grant said Saturday. “Obviously playing is a good opportunity no matter where it is. Obviously, you want to be in a game in the NBA, but if I can go down there and get a lot of minutes and get back in a rhythm, I think it would be OK.”
The prime of Carmelo’s career? That’s long since past, and he’s been one of the most overrated “superstars” throughout his career.
He’s putting up 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. Man those are some pretty good numbers for someone who’s long past their prime.
You know how everyone loves to dump on Carmelo… “Overrated”… lol. One of the most prolific scorers ever… The best player Melo has played with? 32 year old Iverson… Maybe he should run to another team and join two other superstars to win a championship…
In the prime of his career, when he was with the Nuggets and his first couple of seasons with the Knicks, he was overrated. He was/is without a doubt one of the best pure scorers this era. However, he offered little else outside of that and its just recently that his game has expanded. Agreed that he hasn’t had the greatest supporting cast around him, but you could easily argue that the Cavs with LeBron (before leaving for Miami) and the Magic with Howard had squads that were on par or worse than the Nuggets had with Carmelo.
Well, as a Magic fan, we had some pretty good talent, but the biggest thing was SVG’s system with 4 3 point shooters around Howard. You see that a lot now-a-days with 4 guys in a lineup that can shoot 3’s, but back then it was still a relatively new concept.
Agreed. I also think he fails to realize that the Knicks don’t have any valuable trade assets outside of Melo and Porzingas. They’re not getting a star player in return when they can only dangle Affalo, Calderon and O’Quinn in return…that’s a terrible package. At the same time, none of those guys are warranting a high first round pick or promising young player…I could see a contender willing to dangle a lottery protected pick for Afflalo but that still might be too much.
Everyone wants to trade Melo then what back to last season without a lottery pick? Who is coming to the Knicks it means 2-3 years of losing by that time JP will be tired of losing and will looking to leave
Thank You.