The New York Knicks have definitely improved this offseason, though that is not saying much. They had a decent free agency and an excellent draft, picking up Latvian 7-footer Kristaps Porzingis and Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant. However, they weren’t able to land any of the big names on the free agency market such as Greg Monroe, LaMarcus Aldridge, or DeAndre Jordan. They did hold meetings with all three but struck out each time also, for different reasons.
The big it seemed they most likely had the best shot at was Aldridge. However, the meeting between the two parties didn’t go as smooth as planned because Phil Jackson and the Knicks front office wanted to play LaMarcus exclusively at center as opposed to his natural power forward spot. They claimed this was in order for Porzingis and Aldridge to be able to play together at the same time. However, the most important player in the entire Knicks franchise believes they had a legitimate shot at signing Aldridge had they delivered their pitch differently. That would be eight time all star Carmelo Anthony. Following from Stefon Bondy of the New York Daily News:
The Knicks forward learned only recently, through a conversation with Aldridge at Team USA training camp, why a meeting never happened. As the Daily News reported, the Knicks wanted Aldridge to play the unfamiliar position of center to free up minutes at power forward for rookie Kristaps Porzingis.
“I didn’t know that. When he told me that, I didn’t know that. I took my headband and threw it across. . . . I honestly didn’t know that,” Anthony said.
It should be noted that Anthony — who was in an exceptional mood during the two Team USA practices this week — was playful and smiling while recalling the headband toss. But his belief was sincere that Aldridge, who signed with San Antonio for $90 million, would’ve chosen New York.
“I think we could have gotten LaMarcus. I believe, the conversations me and him had, it was a big chance that he was going to end up in New York,” Anthony said. “So I don’t really know where the playing the center position came in. I know from when I was talking to him we had a greater shot of getting him.”
Of course, Melo reacted the way any other superstar desperate for help would to this news. It’s known league wide that even though Aldridge has center size, his skillset allows him to be more lethal at the 4. As the Knicks, you have to know this and realize it’s flat out dumb to send a pitch like that his way. You really can’t blame Melo for flinging his headband either.
He was told there were going to be some major changes and that the Knicks were going to be competitive. When you’re that close to landing a big name free agent like Aldridge, the organization had to flat out capitalize on this opportunity to give Anthony some legitimate help. Melo says he’s happy with the moves Jackson and the Knicks have made this summer, but will that happiness waver as the season approaches? We’ll just have to wait and see.
