The NBA trade deadline is fewer than two weeks away and rumors are swirling. The player most often brought up this season is Carmelo Anthony.
With the Knicks struggling to keep up in the playoff race, there has been plenty of speculation about Melo’s future in New York. The star forward has had very little success in his time with the Knicks. Moving on from New York would allow him to potentially contend elsewhere while the Knicks finally attempt to rebuild around younger talent.
Whether Melo will actually move on from New York is another question entirely. He has sent mixed messages about whether he will waive his no-trade clause in certain situations. But in the days following a seemingly cheap shot from Knicks’ president Phil Jackson at Melo, it appears as though Anthony has made up his mind to stay in New York.
From Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical:
Anthony has privately told teammates, too: He refuses to let Jackson run him out of the Knicks. The Knicks have contacted three teams – the Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers – about possible Anthony trades. The Clippers and Cavaliers have interest, but only in cobbling together packages that include role players, league sources told The Vertical.
Despite Melo’s resolve to attempt to overstay Jackson in New York, it appears as though another team might get into the sweepstakes for his efforts, at least if its star player has anything to say about it. Speaking to Jim Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times, Jimmy Butler insinuated that he has been talking to Melo and could recruit him to the Bulls:
“That is half the battle,’’ Butler said about making a player from another team feel appreciated. “And I could still do that. Everybody knows what Carmelo can bring to a team. The dude is a hell of a player.
“But we have some things that we’ve got to worry about here first in the next few weeks [leading into the Feb. 23 trade deadline] before we go down that road.’’
There have been no reports that the Bulls are attempting to trade for Melo, but it should be noted that Anthony was close to joining the Bulls in free agency before re-signing in New York.
Whether the Bulls actually take Butler’s pseudo-recruitment seriously and engage in trade talks may not matter. If Carmelo Anthony is intent on staying in New York, which appears to be the case, then he will be a Knick for the foreseeable future.
