Holding Court – Carmelo Anthony remains in New York State of Mind

Just as we predicted a week ago, Carmelo Anthony is staying in New York. Two days after LeBron James went back home to Cleveland, Melo, the second-biggest free agent in this year’s offseason, decided to likewise do the same – stay in his hometown and stick it out with the team of his younger dreams, for better or for worse.

“A few years ago I dreamed of coming back to New York City, the place of my birth, and on February 23, 2011 that became a reality. This organization has supported me and in return, I want to stay and build here with this city and my team,” Anthony wrote in his official website. “At this pivotal juncture in my career, I owed it to myself and my family to explore all of the options available to me. Through it all, my heart never wavered.

“During this journey I met with some quality organizations who have amazing talent and leadership. I thank them for their consideration, belief in my talent, and opportunity to imagine the possibilities.”

Anthony, who was born in Brooklyn, New York 30 years ago on May 29, led the home state Syracuse Orangemen to their first and only NCAA title in 2003, and such ties to his roots, just like it did on James, played a big part in the 6-foot-8 forward’s decision to stay as a Knick. “In the end, I am a New York Knick at heart. I am looking forward to continue my career in Orange and Blue and to work with Phil Jackson, a champion who builds championship teams. Madison Square Garden is the mecca of basketball and I am surrounded by the greatest fans in the world.”

Anthony actually spent most of the first eight years of his career in Denver after being drafted third by the Nuggets next to James and Darko Milicic in 2003, but eventually worked his way out of Mile High City to go home to New York on February 22, 2011. That was when a three-team trade, which will go down as the biggest in history in terms of number of players and draft picks involved, was completed by the Knicks to fulfill the wish by a native son to play for his home state franchise. That trade also involving Minnesota sent then-Knicks starters Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari and Raymond Felton, along with center Timofey Mozgov, a first-round pick in 2014 and two second-round selections New York acquired from Golden State, the right to exchange first-round selections in 2016 as well as the Timberwolves’ Kosta Koufus plus $3 million to Denver. The Knicks, meanwhile, got in exchange Denver’s Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter, Renaldo Balkman and Shelden Williams as well as Minnesota’s Corey Brewer besides Anthony, while the T-Wolves also received Eddy Curry and Anthony Randolph from the Knicks and a second-round pick from the Nuggets as part of the same deal.  

All put together, Anthony plus Billups and a few fringe players cost the Knicks nine players plus $3 million, a hefty price any way one looks at it.

But Melo has for the most part lived up to his end of the deal, averaging 26.5 points since coming to New York more than three years ago and leading them to the playoffs in his first three years there, just missing out this past season – the very first time he missed the postseason – in a turbulent year that helped spur him to look at other options. That average, by the way, is tied for second with Bernard King behind only Bob McAdoo’s 26.7 in his short, three-year stint with the Knicks.  Patrick Ewing is fourth at 22.8 points a game.

Anthony’s new contract is worth $122 million over the next five years. Although less than the maximum figure of $129 million, it is still the most any team can offer as a club is allowed to offer only a maximum of four years to sign another team’s free agent. Anthony agreed to such a deal according to Knicks president Phil Jackson to give the team cap flexibility. “He did exactly what we kind of asked him to do.  Give us a break in the early part of his contract so that when we have some wiggle room next year, which is hopefully big enough wiggle room, we can exploit it, provide a more competitive team to our group,” Jackson explained.

With Anthony, Amare Stoudemire ($23.4 million) and Andrea Bargnani ($11.5 million) under contract for 2014-15, the Knicks are expected to be over the salary cap. Jackson had shopped both injury-prone veterans but found no takers. If Stoudemire and Bargnani, the top overall pick in 2006 whom the Knicks acquired from Toronto before last season, stay with the Knicks, the club would just have the $3.3 million taxpayer’s exception and veteran’s minimum to use for the rest of the offseason.

It is when both players go off the cap next summer that the Knicks would have at least $20 million in cap space to play with.

The Knicks actually had to fend off strong pursuits by other teams like Chicago, Dallas, Houston and finally the LA Lakers in order to keep Anthony. The Lakers were said to be ready to offer Melo a max contract of $97 million over four years while the Bulls, who observers believed posed the strongest challenge to the Knicks’ effort to keep him as they were supposed to be in the running as late as two days before Anthony broke his decision, could have offered the seven-time All-Star a max deal through a sign-and-trade with Chicago not having enough cap space.

The Bulls, Mavericks, Rockets and Lakers all spelled out their plans for the future to Melo and were largely convincing. All of them, after all, had the talent that, combined with Melo, offered chances of competing for a title quicker than New York can with its current roster. The Bulls had Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose (assuming he comes back in nearly the same shape that he was a few years ago), newly-acquired Pau Gasol and respected coach Tom Thibodeau, the Mavs had Dirk Nowitzki, Monta Ellis and new acquisitions Chandler Parsons and Tyson Chandler, while the Rockets still have Dwight Howard and James Harden. The Lakers, on the other hand, would have given Melo the opportunity to form a partnership with close chum Kobe Bryant, who’s coming back after an injury-filled season, plus other perks like more career opportunities for his wife, TV and movie personality and disc jockey La La Vazquez.

In the end, however, Anthony chose the Knicks, new coach Derek Fisher and Jackson and his vision of building a championship contender around his enormous offensive skills, which this past season enabled him to average a league-second-best 27.4 points (behind only Kevin Durant’s 32.0).  

Anthony said he is looking forward to operating within the triangle offense that will be installed by Jackson and Fisher, a system based on player movement, spacing and passing that contrasted sharply with the isolation plays Melo has been weaned through most of his career.

“I talked to Carmelo a little bit about that in the process. One of the things about the offensive system is you can’t try to score every time you catch the ball,” Jackson revealed of a talk with Anthony. “You have to participate and you also have to have guys who are strong enough to know that there’s a whole offense to run and guys to all be involved, and if things happen, breakdowns, you need to have that man who can get shots on his own, then you have a guy that’s a great bailout guy in Carmelo. So there are two things that go along with that, but I think that’s what he’s really looking for. He admired San Antonio’s game and how they played, and that’s the way we want to play.”

No matter the configuration is, Melo will be the undisputed top dog of the Knicks, which is also part of the selling point Jackson and the Knicks brass used in convincing him to remain.

To be sure, Melo’s remaining in New York didn’t always look like a slam dunk during the free-agent courtship. There were times when Anthony seemed upset with Jackson and the way he played games, going public on a few occasions in challenging Melo to honor his word that his priority would still be the Knicks and to accept less money to help the team put the necessary talent around him. Jackson reportedly also told Anthony in their final meeting to “take one for the team” and was supposed to have “reluctantly” made him the near-max deal, but in the end, Anthony still decided the Knicks were the best fit for him.  None among Chicago, Dallas, Houston and the Lakers simply offered him a sure title had he cast his lot with any of them.

“In the end, if he was going to gamble on an iffy proposition, Anthony figured he might as well make the most money, keep the Madison Square Garden stage, keep his wife and seven-year-old son in New York and hope that Jackson can use next summer’s cap space and first-round pick to build a team as spectacularly as he used to coach one,” ESPN New York’s Ian O’Connor said.

At this point, the Knicks seem to be in better shape than when they last took to the floor. They traded Chandler and Felton, both of whom had down seasons last year, to Dallas for Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Wayne Ellington and Shane Larkin and also acquired Wichita State forward Cleanthony Early, who some say is a first-round talent, as part of the deal. They still have young talent like Tim Hardaway Jr. and Iman Shumpert and veterans Stoudemire, Bargnani, Pablo Prigioni and J.R. Smith, and if this bunch is healthy and motivated enough, and if Fisher quickly learns on the job, the Knicks could just be a playoff team next season. 

With James out of Miami and likely to go through some growing pains with his talented but young teammates in Cleveland, the East could be wide open for any team that unexpectedly plays well and gets hot at the right time to sneak in. One has to keep in mind that these same Knicks, before last year’s disastrous season, went as far as the East semifinals in 2013 before bowing to Indiana in six games. 

And it should not be forgotten either that the triangle made Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, two wondrous offensive talents, even better once they bought into Jackson’s methods, stringing together championships in the process. Who knows? If Melo similarly buys into the Zen Master’s philosophy, as he seems to have just done by displaying patience in picking New York over more ready-made teams, he just might prove to be the third big star to experience such a turnaround.

SHORTSHOTS: Pau Gasol is about to sign a three-year, $22 million-plus contract with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls made two trades Monday to clear salary-cap space, helping make room for the seven-foot Spanish center, who turned down a $10 million offer from the Lakers. Gasol, a four-time All-Star, averaged 17.4 points and 9.7 rebounds last year for LA but was often underappreciated. The Bulls sent forward Anthony Randolph, two second-round draft picks and cash considerations to Orlando for the rights to Milovan Rakovic, and also traded forward Greg Smith to Dallas for the rights to Tadija Dragicevic. The rights to Rakovic, who has played his entire career overseas, were originally acquired from Dallas in 2007. The 6-9 Dragicevic was selected by Utah with the 53rd overall pick in the 2008 draft.  He was traded to Dallas in a four-team deal in 2012 and has never appeared in an NBA game.  Randolph is expected to be waived by the Magic… Chris Andersen was expected to sign a $10 million contract with Miami. Mario Chalmers would also sign an $8 million contract. The twin moves come after the Heat have agreed with Chris Bosh on a maximum $118 million deal for five years shortly after LeBron James left to return to Cleveland… Ben Gordon will make $4.5 million flat for two years with Orlando, but the second year isn’t guaranteed although it has some incentives… Indiana’s Paul George, Houston’s James Harden, Dallas’ Tyson Chandler and Detroit’s Brandon Jennings are the latest additions to the NBA selection that will play Gilas Pilipinas in an exhibition matches dubbed “The Last Home Stand All-Star Charity Event” on July 22 and 23 at the Araneta Coliseum. Basketball patron Manny Pangilinan announced the inclusion of George on the NBA team in his Twitter account during his birthday last July 14 as well as the others over the past two days. Other NBA stars/players confirmed to be coming for the event are Blake Griffin of the LA Clippers, 2014 NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard of San Antonio, Damian Lillard of Portland, Demar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Terrence Ross of Toronto, and Houston draft pick Nick Johnson of Arizona. Former Boston Celtic superstar Paul Pierce of Washington is a late scratch, disappointing fans of the 10-time All-Star and surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer who has come to Manila two times. – Rappler.com

 

Bert A. Ramirez has been a freelance sportswriter/columnist since the ’80s, writing mostly about the NBA and once serving as consultant and editor for Tower Sports Magazine, the longest-running locally published NBA magazine, from 1999 to 2008.  He has also written columns and articles for such publications as Malaya, Sports Digest, Winners Sports Weekly, Pro Guide, Sports Weekly, Sports Flash, Sports World, Basketball Weekly and the FIBA’s International Basketball, and currently writes a fortnightly column for QC Life and a weekly blog for BostonSports Desk.  A former corporate manager, Bert has breathed, drunk and slept sports most of his life.