New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony. (Photo : Reuters)
New York Knicks team leader and Phil Jackson's supposed to be triangle offense anchor Carmelo Anthony is now included in the team's recent trade rumors and it seems to be getting louder as the 2015-2016 NBA season approaches.
No less than Knick legend and former point guard Walt Frazier, now color commentator for the MSG Network, mentioned in an interview with ESPN that Anthony sure "wasn't happy" about Jackson selecting Kristaps Porzingis fourth overall in the recent draft and could demand for a trade in the regular season if he feels that he is not fit within the Knicks' plans.
At 31, the eight-time NBA All-Star is not getting any younger and he knows that his opportunity to contend for or win a championship is getting bleaker and bleaker as the seasons pass.
After the Knicks drafted the 20-year-old Latvian, who is considered by many analysts as a long-term project at best, they then signed veteran free agents Arron Afflalo and Robin Lopez to reinforce their young squad, although both players are not expected to make last season's 17-65 team a title contender this coming season.
With all their offseason moves, it seems like Jackson is not keen on building a contender right now but instead steadily go on rebuilding mode, something that does not bode well for Anthony.
Grantland's Zach Lowe was the first to indicate that New York is "getting closer" to exploring the possibility of trading their franchise player, although he did not mention who are the teams interested in dealing for the prized forward.
It should be noted, however, that Anthony's five-year, $124 million contract extension included a no-trade clause, which means he has a say which team he would want to be traded to, if ever or at all.
In this case, the 2013 scoring champion might end up somewhere where he has the best chance of winning a title. To San Antonio or Cleveland perhaps?
