The Tank is on in New York. Say goodbye to Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith. Say goodbye to Samuel Dalembert. Possibly say goodbye to Jose Calderon as well, according to reports.
Say goodbye to Carmelo Anthony next? He does have a sore knee that may need some rest and relaxation.
The following from Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski:
Carmelo Anthony has been resisting idea of resting that sore knee, but Knicks have been encouraging him to sit, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 6, 2015
On the other hand, Carmelo Anthony spoke to ‘Bleacherreport’ as a part of their “Uninterrupted” series and said, hes not shutting it down anytime soon.
VIDEO: @carmeloanthony talks about his injury, the recent trade and the future of the Knicks https://t.co/S2dRIHzRkw pic.twitter.com/Xzarcg1Oar
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 6, 2015
Carmelo needs to shut it down. There’s no need for him to play anymore. I see him playing in a few games here and there just so he can play in the All-Star game which is in New York this year and beyond that, I don’t see much necessity for the former scoring champion to wear anything except a nice suit for the rest of the year. Shut it down Carmelo and let other guys get a chance.
The Knicks making all these moves could be beneficial for younger guys like Quincy Acy, Cleanthony Early, Tim Hardaway Jr, Shane Larkin and even some D-League guys like Thanasis Antetokounmpo or Langston Galloway.
Anthony is in the first year of a five-year, $123 million deal. The Knicks have a lot of money tied up in him and a lot of reasons to want Melo to be health for the next 5 years to come. To tell him to continue to give 100% for no apparent reason at all is beyond reason. The Knicks are 5-32. They would have to go 36-9 for the rest of the season to even finish at .500 for the year.
Phil Jackson got Carmelo Anthony to believe in his long-term plan, and the Knicks are going to have a ton of money to spend this summer, when Amar’e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani come off the books along with the multitude of other expiring contracts. It’s time for the tank to back up into MSG and stay.
Jahlil Okafor is looking pretty good at Duke right now too.
