Carmelo Anthony often includes the hashtag #StayMe7o on his social media posts, but it seems that staying is the last thing that the New York Knicks want “Me7o,” as Anthony calls himself, to do:
Phil Jackson on Carmelo Anthony: "I think the direction with our team is that he would be better off somewhere else."
— Mike Vorkunov (@Mike_Vorkunov) April 14, 2017
Anthony isn’t a free agent until 2019, so Jackson will have to trade him if he wants him gone. Furthermore, Anthony has a no-trade clause built into his contract, so Jackson will have to trade him to a destination that he’s happy with.
The Knicks didn’t have a good season, going 31-51 as the Derrick Rose-Joakim Noah experiment failed.
The Knicks are (or should be, at least) trying to rebuild around Kristaps Porzingis, which means going younger. 32-year-old Anthony doesn’t help that cause. He’s still a terrific scorer, but Anthony isn’t much of a defender and isn’t the overall player that he once was. Anthony had a solid year, averaging 22.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game on 43.3 percent shooting.
The Knicks aren’t really trying to win right now, though. Or, probably more accurately, they are trying to win but aren’t succeeding. Either way, Anthony isn’t helping.
