Numerous sources have revealed that Carmelo Anthony will choose to opt out the final year of his contract with the New York Knicks and test the free agency waters this coming 2014 NBA free agency. The perenial all star will likely make his plans for his future official to the franchise on the June 23 deadline. If he does decide to opt out and sign with another team, then it will leave the Knicks franchise will a very large hole to fill.
It is clear that Melo is the center piece of a New York franchise deprived from NBA glory for so many years. The star forward averaged career high numbers last season with 8.1 rebounds and 27.4 points and ranked top 10 in Player Efficieny Rating in a knicks team that missed the playoffs and was fighting for the 8th seed all season long. He was the only bright spot for the Knicks and losing him now would mean all sorts of trouble for the franchise both in the short term and long term.
A Melo-less franchise would leave Jackson with no choice but to tank for the 2014-15 season and hope that they would hit gold with their first round draft pick. And unlike this years free-agency class which is teeming with all-star talent, next year's free agent market features only a handful of big names like LeBron James, Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge and Rajon Rondo--and that is assuming that LeBron does not resign with the Heat and Love doesn't get traded to Golden State or any other team this season.
The presence of Carmelo Anthony also makes New York very appealing to other stars. It is clear that James, Durant, Love, and other stars respect Melo after he was instrumental in USA's run for gold in the Olympics. If Melo leaves New York, then it would be difficult for Phil Jackson to lure in other stars to Big Apple. The post-Melo New York would surely be a painful one to watch for fans as it leaves the franchise with a large salary cap-room with no significant player to fill in.
But Phil Jackson's arrival in New York is the biggest reason why the the franchise still has a solid chance of retaining Carmelo Anthony. Melo called Jackson as a genius and a guru and remarked that he could learn a lot from the zen-master. Anthony's decision to opt-out can be considered, in many ways, as a business decision rather than a personal one.
Now all Jackson needs to do is to sit down and buckle up and hope that Anthony makes the decision to sign a multi-year contract with the team because amidst the myriad of problems happening in New York, Anthony is not one of them. In fact, he is the one clear solution that New York needs to move forward and seeing him leave would create even more problems to the reeling Knicks.
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