When Knicks GM Glen Grunwald addressed the media last week, he said that the Knicks plan to get "creative" this offseason and that the team has some ideas for ways to add talent. According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, Carmelo Anthony is hopeful that the Knicks will deliver on that vow. Berman reports that Anthony has told a confidant he believes the team needs to add a bona fide scorer to the roster, rather than standing relatively pat.
According to Berman, Carmelo loves Iman Shumpert, but thinks Shumpert is still a couple years away from becoming a star. Anthony is privately hoping the team can add a "significant" piece to the roster this summer, says Berman.
While I'm sure Grunwald and Co. are just as interested in adding a major piece to the roster as Carmelo is, it's unclear how exactly the team can do that. Well over the tax threshold, the Knicks will be restricted to using the $3.18MM taxpayer mid-level exception to sign free agents to anything more than the minimum. The team may also have to use part or all of that MLE if it wants to bring back Chris Copeland and Pablo Prigioni.
Besides having limited options in free agency, the Knicks also won't be able to acquire a player via sign-and-trade and aren't exactly loaded with trade chips anyway. Shumpert represents the team's most valuable asset, but I'd be surprised if he were dealt. Much of the rest of the Knicks' roster consists of aging players on multiyear contracts, at least one of which is all but unmovable (Amare Stoudemire's two years at $45MM+).
When he met with the media at the end of the Knicks' season earlier this month, Anthony was diplomatic about the team's potential roster moves, as Berman notes.
"It’s hard to say," Anthony said, after being asked what the roster needs. "I don’t want to jump the gun and say we need this or need that. Let the front office evaluate that. If they want my input, they know how to contact me."