After years of losing, it’s time for Carmelo Anthony to say goodbye to the New York Knicks and waive his no-trade clause in order to win
When it comes to the legacy of Carmelo Anthony, what exactly comes to mind?
We all know Carmelo Anthony is a great player, well more of a great scorer actually. We could look at his ball hog and isolation tendencies as something that can stop the offensive flow a lot, which is something New York Knicks president Phil Jackson has criticized Melo for in the past.
He could also be classified as somebody caring only about the offensive end of the floor as well. We know his defense hasn’t been one of his strongest suits and something people have called just a lack of effort, which is also something Anthony’s former coach George Karl said when he talked about Melo in his new book “Furious George”.
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People have questioned Anthony’s ability to lead a team or even make his teammates better for that matter. Looking at Melo’s former teammates, J.R Smith and Iman Shumpert were dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015 in what put the final touches on a championship team.
The main difference from this is how they acted and played one way with Carmelo and another with LeBron as the captain of the ship. In New York, J.R Smith wasn’t just playing bad, he reportedly had behavior and immature issues. In Shumpert’s case, he just wasn’t playing well after the hip injury he suffered.
When they were dealt to Cleveland, you didn’t hear about any immature and behavior problems from J.R Smith any longer. He also played much better, eventually earning himself a new four-year, $57 million contract this past summer.
Even though you still hear trade rumors about Iman Shumpert leaving Cleveland, playing with LeBron has involved his game and has made him a real two-way impact player. Shumpert’s play also led Cleveland to give him a new four-year, $40 million contract back in 2015.
You could say that LeBron James is just a better leader than Carmelo Anthony, or the fact that Smith and Shumpert just had to focus and do their jobs to become successful. Either way, Melo comes out looking bad. LeBron won with Melo’s guys. The guys that Melo couldn’t get it done with.
Yet, without question, we can’t deny the greatness of Carmelo Anthony. He will certainly go down as one of the greatest scorers the NBA has ever seen. His 24.8 PPG career scoring average gives us nothing to knock about his offensive talents and his 25.6 PPG playoff career scoring average ranks 10th all-time, which is just ahead of Kobe Bryant.
His ability to score from anywhere on the basketball court is what gave him his household name in the NBA. However, with that being said, his scoring ability alone won’t be enough to save his legacy.
If Carmelo Anthony retired today, his legacy would have mixed opinions for sure but probably mostly negative ones. He would be remembered as an elite scorer who didn’t care enough about winning and just wanted to get his money.
Well, as of now, that assumption seems about right because his team doesn’t win. In fact, they have missed the playoffs the last three seasons and that still doesn’t make Carmelo want to waive his no-trade clause that was included in his five-year, $124 million contract he signed during the 2014 free agency period.
Right now it seems like Carmelo Anthony favors money over winning, which is why you can’t blame those that read his actions rather than his words.
In 2012, Carmelo Anthony’s 16-38 playoff record was set as the worst playoff percentage (.308) in NBA history. In Carmelo’s 13 seasons, Anthony has made the playoffs for a total of 10 times and here’s the embarrassing thing for Carmelo: He has only gotten out of the first round twice in his entire career – once during the 2008-09 season, when he played for the Denver Nuggets, and again during the 2012-13 season, with the Knicks.
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If Carmelo Anthony wants to even save his legacy, he has to get out of New York “quick, fast, and in a hurry” in which ESPN’s Stephen A Smith would describe it best.
Melo is 32 years old and right now the New York Knicks are 16-19 which is 10th in the Eastern Conference.
Basically, the point is the Knicks are not going anywhere anytime soon, and it’s going to be years before they will become title contenders.
To Carmelo’s defense, you can really praise his loyalty to the New York Knicks. However, looking at the Knicks franchise, it doesn’t really make sense why Carmelo would even want to stay besides the fact it’s one of the biggest NBA markets and one of the largest cities in the world.
The Knicks President Phil Jackson promised Carmelo back in 2014, in his attempt to re-sign the all-star during Anthony’s free agency meeting, that he would build players around him and sign big-time names in free agency. So far, Jackson’s plan hasn’t gone so well. Unless you consider a washed up Joakim Noah, a past-his-prime Derrick Rose and Brandon Jennings big-time players.
Not to mention that Kevin Durant, Greg Monroe, LaMarcus Aldridge and Marc Gasol all gave Jackson and the Knicks a stern “NO”.
The only big move that Phil Jackson really made was drafting the Knicks future in Kristaps Porzingis. Jackson also traded for Derrick Rose which was an upgrade at the point guard spot for sure, and has really played well this season. But the 2010-11 NBA MVP is not walking through that door.
Phil Jackson didn’t even acquire any significant defensive talent; the New York Knicks are one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA – they’re 25th in defense and giving up 108.4 points per page. Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek even questioned his team’s talent level on defense referring to his team as “just might not being able to play defense”.
That falls exactly on Phil Jackson and his ability to get the proper talent around Carmelo.
Honestly, Carmelo Anthony just might not be a guy that can be the leader of a championship roster. He could be suited better as a second option to another superstar on a championship contending team.
However, that doesn’t give Carmelo an excuse to stay with the Knicks any longer. If Anthony really wants to change his legacy, then he has to waive his no-trade clause and get to a contender like the Los Angeles Clippers or Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Clippers need a small forward and Anthony would be the perfect fit. The Clippers and Knicks could actually pull of a Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin swap. It would work money-wise, and could work for both sides. LA would get a proven scorer, and the Knicks could clear their books or continue to build around Kristaps Prozingis (whichever they prefer).
It would also give the Knicks a player in Blake Griffin that would be better suit for a Knicks future plans as the team continues retool their roster into championship contenders. The pairing of Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and DeAndre Jordan doesn’t sound bad as well, and let’s not forgot how the Clippers are in win-now mode.
Maybe a tweak to their roster would be for all the best?
Also, we should remember that this version of the Clippers (since the arrival of Chris Paul) has never made the Western Conference Finals, as talented as they seem. This would seem like this core’s final shot.
If Carmelo Anthony doesn’t want to go to the Clippers, the Cavaliers would be another great option for him. Now, due to Cleveland’s lack of cap space, they would definitely have to trade some players (probably Kevin Love) to make space for Anthony, but Carmelo wouldn’t just be in playoff contention he would be in the NBA Finals which is something he has yet to experience.
And, of course, the combination of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Kyrie Irving would hard to stop. LeBron also gets his teammates to play defense, so Carmelo’s game could definitely reach another level even at age 32.
Even If Carmelo Anthony didn’t want to join the Cavaliers, then there are plenty of other championship contenders like the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets that Carmelo Anthony could join.
With that being said, Anthony must make a decision now while he is in the last stages of his prime because his legacy depends on it. If he wants to be remembered after he retires for winning championships like his buddy in Cleveland, then he must waive that no-trade clause because he’s running out of time.
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Or, he can just continue to play for an average team and collect $20 million per year and retire as being remembered as just a talented scorer and nothing else. This decision for Carmelo Anthony comes down to money and winning.
So far he has chosen the money throughout his career but if he wants to start winning and save his legacy, it’s time for Carmelo Anthony to say goodbye to the New York Knicks.