Carmelo Anthony Tells Phil Jackson He Wants To Remain A Knick

The previously-reported meeting between Carmelo Anthony and Knicks president Phil Jackson took place on Tuesday, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. Sources close to the situation inform Shelburne that Jackson asked Anthony during the sit-down if he wants to remain with the Knicks. And according to Frank Isola of The New York Daily News (Twitter link), Anthony told Jackson that he does indeed want to stick with the club.

One source who spoke to Shelburne described today’s meeting as “far more contentious” than previous sit-downs between Anthony and Jackson, though Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link) hears from a source that the meeting was “calm” and “business-like.”

Shelburne’s story suggests that, while no specific trades were discussed, the two sides left the meeting intending to take some time to think about the situation. However, as Isola reports (via Twitter), Anthony’s response to Jackson’s inquiry today echoed what he has been saying to reporters this week — he prefers to remain a Knick, and wants to win with the franchise.

Anthony is one of just three players who has a formal no-trade clause written into his contract, so any deal that sends him out of New York would require his approval. A substantial salary and a 15% trade kicker would make it hard for the Knicks to find a match, but assuming Jackson and the front office accept Melo’s preference to remain in New York, it doesn’t sound as if the team will need to explore the trade market anyway.

This week’s drama in New York stemmed from a column by Charley Rosen of FanRag. Rosen, a longtime Jackson confidant, was extremely critical of Anthony, writing that the forward’s legs are “going, going, almost gone,” and adding that the nine-time All-Star has “outlived his usefulness” in New York. While Rosen clarified that those were his views alone, and didn’t come from Jackson, the close relationship between the two created some uncertainty for Anthony, necessitating today’s meeting.

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