In the 2010-2011 season Carmelo Anthony forced his way out of Denver and demanded a trade to New York. He was tired of losing, getting beaten in the Playoffs and saw an opportunity to play for the Knicks alongside a dominant power forward in Amare Stoudemire (yes, Amare once was a superstar caliber player, but injuries really screwed him up). So a multiplayer deal went down and Melo could play in his hometown of NY. The rest is history...
It seems like Anthony had more Playoff success in Denver than hehad in New York. In 2010-2011 PO he was swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round. In 2011-2012 the Knicks qualified as a 7th seed and faced up against the eventual champions, the Miami Heat. Once again injuries prevented them to play to their full potential and were eliminated in 5 games. Then 2012-2013 season came and the New York Knicks once again had to face the Boston Celtics in the first round. Only this time KG, Paul Pierce and Rondo weren't enough to stop Carmelo Anthony, he led the way to a 4-2 victory, giving the Knicks their first won PO series since 2000. Unfortunately in the second round they had to face the Indiana Pacers, a team which went on to the ECF and lost to the Heat in 7 tough games. The Pacers dealt with the Knicks in 6 games. But still, the Knickerbockers finally won a Playoff series, right? It's a sign for good things to come, right? WRONG. In the 2013-2014 season everything that could go wrong for the Knicks actually went wrong for the Knicks. They traded for Andrea Bargnani in the offseason, with Amare being still injured, they gave JR Smith an extension, now he makes around 8mln$ a year, Tyson Chandler was also dealing with injuries, then Bargnani got injured (while attempting to dunk almost from the freethrow line...), Metta World Peace took his talents to Twitter and wrote a couple of children books too, and they let Raymond Felton to be their starting point guard for the whole season... I'm sure I'm still missing something..ah! yes! On top of all that the Knicks failes to make the Playoffs! Nevertheless Carmelo Anthony played his heart out, battling for every inch of the court, trying to get the W. He led the NBA in minutes played, 38.7 minutes per game.
With the upcoming offseason the Knicks may lose Carmelo Anthony, and I doubt that signing Phil Jackson as their General Manager will change much, as in my opinion that team is a sinking ship and even the great Zen master won't be able to help them. Melo wants to win and he wants to win now. I doubt that Amare will use his early termination option on his contract and leave the 20mln$ he can still get out of the Knicks, so he will stay there for another season. The same with Bargs, JR and Felton.
So there are a couple of scenarios Carmelo can look at once he's a free agent:
1. Resign with the Knicks and pray that Phil Jackson will come up with some brilliant plan to turn things around. In my opinion right now they are in the rebuilding process, they will probably land a rookie headcoach in Steve Kerr and try to go from there, the only problem is that they can't bring in new players and are forced to go with what they have, and that's why I don't see any success for that team in at least 2 years. And I remind you that Carmelo DOES NOT want to wait any longer.
2. Sign with the Lakers and learn whatever you can from Kobe (that he is willing to pass on of course) and become LA's next superstar. There were many rumours supporting that, but things aren't too good in Southern California too. As of right now they are entering a rebuilding process and going after Carmelo would be a dumb move, having signed Kobe to an even dumber contract 24mln$/2yrs.
3. Sign with/get traded to the Houston Rockets and form a big three with James Harden and Dwight Howard. I think Melo would be a terrible fit in Houston, as they already have one a high volume scorer in James Harden, and I don't believe he would be willing to take the role of the second best player on the team like he did in OKC a couple years back.
4. Sign with/get traded to the Chicago Bulls. This is the best destination for Carmelo Anthony, I'm not saying this just because I'm a Bulls fan, I am saying this because it has the most sense. Look at what coach Tom Thibodeau has done with players like Nate Robinson, DJ Augustin, Mike Dunleay, he turned them into solid, team players, so think about what he could do with Anthony. Thibs provides a great system in the team's defence and offence and Melo being a deadly catch and shoot, iso, post up, all around scorer he would definately make him even better. With Derrick Rose coming back, and Joakim Noah finishing a career season, Anthony could form a new big three in the East with the Bulls. Imagine a lineup with Derrick Rose-Jimmy Butler-Carmelo Anthony-Taj Gibson-Joakim Noah. That's the dream and the recipe for multiple maybe not championships, but Eastern Conference Appearences for sure. In Chicago Melo can acheive the most success out of any other team, and being a Chicago Bulls fan, I would be more than thrilled to have him on my team.
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