Knicks Reportedly Still Committed Towards Trading Carmelo Anthony

Get ready for more trade rumors regarding New York Knicks star forward Carmelo Anthony this off-season.

In February, the Knicks reportedly shopped Anthony ahead of the NBA’s trading deadline, but no real talks even came to fruition. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, and Boston Celtics all had different levels of interest, but with Anthony’s no-trade clause, any trade rumor is complicated.

The 10-time NBA All-Star Anthony has the ability to block a trade to all 30 NBA teams, and has shown no desire on several occasions to waive the clause. The no-trade clause was inserted into Anthony’s contract with the Knicks when he re-signed with the team in July 2014 on five-year, $124 million contract.

Anthony and the Knicks agreed to that contract with the hope that he could win a championship in New York while also gaining significant financial security. New York has yet to even sniff the playoffs since Anthony re-signed, and it appears Anthony will be shut out of the playoffs for a couple of years to go.

In the summer of 2014, Anthony made headlines for meeting with the Chicago Bulls in Chicago, where the Bulls recruited him heavily to sign. Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah were big parts of the pitch to join the Bulls, and they are now Anthony’s two most recognizable teammates outside of Kristaps Porzingis. Sure, Chicago would have an improved Jimmy Butler alongside Rose and Noah if Anthony signed in Chicago then, but we now see how that would’ve worked out thanks to the Knicks.

New York currently sits at 27-42 on the 2016-2017 season, and are getting ready to take on the Los Angeles Clippers tonight in another national televised game that has the odds in their favor. The Knicks have been in Los Angeles since Sunday, so of course the questions about playing for the Clippers, or even the Lakers for that matter came up today:

“Nah, don’t start,’’ Anthony said when asked if he envisions making L.A. his workplace. “I haven’t thought about it. There was an opportunity during the deadline. There was always talk the last couple of seasons being connected to Clippers or Lakers. Somehow always been connected. First it was the Lakers. Now it’s the Clippers situation. I try not to think about it — especially now when I’m still playing with the New York Knicks and got to prepare to play against these guys.’’

“Sometimes you need to get in a new environment and feel a different type of energy and vibe,’’ Anthony said.

With the Knicks already guaranteed a losing season, it’s almost mathematically certain that they will miss the playoffs for the 3rd straight season. Anthony has already drawn that conclusion. He also knows the power rests in his hand if he decides to make a decision about his future

“I’ve come to grips with that,’’ Anthony said. “I had times to think about that over how many weeks it’s been, trying to utilize time to clear my mind and be at peace with it — our situation.”

“Honestly I think about it a lot,” Anthony said when asked about if he will ever be playing basketball in Los Angeles. “I try to put everything in perspective. I think about it all. I think about here. I think about it. The postseason. My teammates. I think about everything. I think about it a lot and put everything in perspective and hear other people’s take on it. At the end of the day, it’s on me.’’

On top of this all comes a report from Ian Begley of ESPN, in-which Begley says the Knicks are committed to trading Anthony this off-season, with the look to build their franchise around Porzingis and whoever they choose to pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. That draft pick will likely be a point guard, considering they don’t seem very high on bringing Rose back at a hefty price tag:

The biggest issue surrounding the Knicks this summer and going forward is Carmelo Anthony’s future with the club. The Knicks shopped Anthony in trade talks before the deadline and, barring an unforeseen change of course, remain committed to moving Anthony in the offseason, per sources.

Anthony, of course, has a no-trade clause, so he controls his future. The market for Anthony this summer is unclear at the moment, but before the deadline, some members of the Los Angeles Clippers organization expressed confidence that they could trade for Anthony over the summer, per sources.

Knicks president Phil Jackson has a lot of decisions to make for the Knicks this off-season, as this summer promises to be his biggest one yet as he will enter another year of his contract with the Knicks in 2017-2018. It’s clear trading for Rose and signing Noah didn’t work out the way he thought, so we will see what is in-store for the Knicks based on what they choose to do with Anthony.