The New York Knicks continue to battle through what has been a testing season, to say the least. It seems almost weekly that the Knicks are in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, whether it be a disappearing point guard, friction between Phil Jackson and star forward Carmelo Anthony, or an ex-legend getting arrested during a game, basketball in the Big Apple has been mired in controversy recently.
Things don’t seem to be getting better anytime soon either as Derrick Rose is set to hit free agency this summer and is not expected back and the front office needs to do everything in their power to kick off their rebuild around young franchise centerpiece Kristaps Porzingis.
Before any of that takes place, though, Anthony, Rose, Porzingis and the Knicks need to try and tough out these final 20 contests without any further adversity. While that seems like a simple enough task to complete, the long-existing friction between Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks front office/coaching staff is clearly still alive and well, as the 10-time All-Star voiced his frustrations with Knicks coaching to Marc Berman of the New York Post after an ugly loss to the lowly Philadelphia 76ers:
Anthony, who beat the Sixers one week ago with a last-second shot, finished the night with 18 points on 5-of-18 shooting, but didn’t want any part of the responsibility. In fact, Anthony may have shifted it to the coaching staff.
“We play the same way throughout the course of the game,’’ Anthony said. “When teams make adjustments, we’re still playing the same way as teams make adjustments defensively.’’
Anthony blaming the Knicks coaching staff is fair when you take a look at their lack of wins but an in-depth look will tell you, the issues are deeper than just poor coaching. While Melo remains a premier scoring threat, his efficiency has took a drop and the addition of Rose this past offseason was not a good one, especially for someone who’s going to be running the show. Now, the Knicks are likely headed into a different direction as they need to surround Kristaps Porzingis with weapons.
This coming offseason will be a busy one for the Knicks front office. If the relationship between Phil Jackson and Anthony is beyond repair as it seems to be, Melo could get dealt this summer. This would surely be a huge loss as Porzingis already illustrated himself. The Knicks should be one of the more active teams in free agency also, and while they’ve already been linked to current New Orleans Pelicans floor general Jrue Holiday, they’ll need more than just a new point guard to dig themselves out of this hole they’re created for themselves moving forward.
