Carmelo Anthony Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Carmelo Only Knick Off-Limits For Trade

December 11th, 2013 at 9:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks fell further into last place in the Atlantic Division last night with a loss to the Cavaliers, and with a 5-15 record, Carmelo Anthony is the only player who’s certain not to be traded, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. The free agents the team signed this past offseason become eligible to be traded Sunday, except for Cole Aldrich, who becomes trade-eligible on December 23rd, and J.R. Smith, who isn’t allowed to be traded until January 15th.

Some have suggested trading Anthony might be the Knicks best course of action, but a recent report indicated that New York has no plans to do so. He’s likely to become a free agent at season’s end, but there are few expiring contracts on the team’s books, limiting flexibility. It would be especially difficult to find takers for Amar’e Stoudemire, the team’s highest-paid player, given that he’s making nearly $21.7MM this year and is set for more than $23.4MM next season. Four Knicks have deals that end after this season, but they’re among the cheapest on the books, and Chris Smith‘s minimum salary for 2014/15 is non-guaranteed

There have been plenty of rumors about Iman Shumpert, and the team is apparently trying to boost his value by telling other front offices that Mike Woodson‘s coaching is hiding the full extent of his abilities. Woodson knows his job isn’t on solid ground. He senses that the vote of confidence owner James Dolan gave him last month no longer applies, according to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, who hears from a source that, “People are just waiting for Dolan to snap.”

Atlantic Notes: White, Marshall, Rondo, Knicks

December 10th, 2013 at 4:43pm CST by Chuck Myron

At least three NBA teams are showing interest in Royce White, agent George Bass of AAI Sports tells Sarah Lyall of The New York Times, in comments that jibe with what White said a week ago. The 16th overall pick in last year’s draft recently hired Bass after parting ways with his representatives at ASM Sports. White says he’s ready to play, but when the Sixers waived him before the season, there’s was apparently more to their decision than concerns over his mental health difficulties, Lyall writes.

“They just told me they didn’t want to keep me at this point in time, and that’s pretty much the gist of it,” he said. “There was a lot being said in meetings, and all of it was contradictory — ‘You’re supertalented; you can play; you can be an excellent player in the league, but we don’t want to keep you at this time.’”

There’s more on a player that Philadelphia seems more enthusiastic about in our roundup from the Atlantic Division:

There were rumors that the Sixers were interested in Kendall Marshall right after the Wizards released him at the start of the season, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Marshall is now with Philly’s D-League affiliate, which makes sense, Coro says.
Rajon Rondo said today that he’s had “no conversations” with Carmelo Anthony about joining forces, in response to the rumor that Anthony is recruiting the point guard, notes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Yet saying otherwise would probably constitute tampering, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News suggests (on Twitter).
Rondo would be an awkward on-court fit with Anthony and many of the current Knicks, opines Keith Schlosser of Knicks Journal.
Knicks owner James Dolan met with Mike Woodson right after Sunday’s 41-point loss to the Celtics for a conversation that “must have been as pleasant as root canal” for the embattled coach, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. At least one player was also in the meeting, Isola adds.

Odds & Ends: Rondo, Carmelo, Tyler, Ayres

December 7th, 2013 at 10:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rajon Rondo doesn’t put much stock in the rumor that Carmelo Anthony is trying to recruit him to the Knicks, but Anthony has been privately yearning to see Rondo in orange and blue since July, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks attempted to trade Iman Shumpert for Rondo, and Newsday’s Al Iannazzone thinks it’s critical that New York continue to see if it can pry the All-Star point guard away from the Celtics or make some kind of splash, lest Anthony bolt in free agency. Here’s more on the Knicks and the rest of the NBA:

Berman, in the same piece, also suggests the Knicks may look to re-sign camp invitee Jeremy Tyler in another week as he continues to round into form after a preseason injury.
Unlike some free agents who were happy to leave their former teams behind, Spurs big man Jeff Ayres told Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News that he feels “no animosity” toward the Pacers and is “still really cool with all the guys on the team.”
Kendall Marshall is off to a fast start with the D-League affiliate of the Sixers, and Michael Kaskey-Blomain of the Philadelphia Inquirer thinks the big club should consider signing last year’s 13th overall pick to an NBA contract.
Doubts about the ability of Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe to play together left some executives around the league believing the Suns would trade Dragic, but early returns show the pairing has been successful, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
Joel Embiid is developing into a potential No. 1 overall pick, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, joining ESPN colleague Chad Ford on the Kansas center’s bandwagon.
Knee troubles have sidelined Al Harrington for a good chunk of this season, but he remains involved with the Wizards. As he tells Michael Lee of the Washington Post, Harrington can imagine himself coaching after he retires and has been acting as a de facto assistant in Washington while he recovers.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Atlantic Notes: Carmelo, Rondo, Shumpert

December 7th, 2013 at 10:34am CST by Zachary Links

Derrick Rose refuses to recruit, but Carmelo Anthony (reportedly) might be willing to woo stars to New York. Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smtih told USA Today’s Jason Jordan that Anthony is trying to convince Rondo to sign with the Knicks in the summer of 2015 when he is a free agent. Here’s more on that and other news out of the Atlantic Division..

Anthony refused to discuss the report, writes ESPNNewYork.com’s Ian Begley. “C’mon, man. In my book, that’s tampering,” he said. If the report is true, however, that’s a promising sign for Knicks fans if the pending free agent is working to get stars to join him at MSG.
Iman Shumpert is clearly uncomfortable with all of the trade talk surrounding him and Knicks teammate J.R. Smith empathizes. “Nobody wants to be traded,” Smith said, according to Begley. “To be in the situation he’s in with a hell of a team and the teammates that we have, it’s tough to go through that.” Shump took his anger out on the Magic last night, scoring 10 points in 25 minutes in the Knicks’ 38-point win.
Despite uneven playing time in Boston, Gerald Wallace says that Celtics teammate Kris Humphries won’t be requesting a trade. “That’s not his personality,” Wallace said, according to the Boston Herald. “I think a lot of people are trying to push him to that edge, but knowing Kris, that’s not his personality. He’s not going to demand a trade. He’s not going to blow up and go all off in the media. The thing he’s going to do is keep working hard every day and continue to get better as a player and wait for his opportunity.”

Knicks Won’t Trade Carmelo Anthony

December 7th, 2013 at 8:55am CST by Zachary Links

Even with some serious struggling to open the 2013/14 season and their star player calling them the “laughingstock” of the NBA, the Knicks have zero intention of trading Carmelo Anthony, sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Aside from the fact that owner Jim Dolan personally sealed the deal to bring Anthony to New York, the front office realizes it won’t be able to get fair value in return for one of the most talented players in the league.

Even with the Knicks’ losing this season, they still have a major chip in negotiations this summer as they can give Melo roughly $33MM more than any other club over the course of a five-year deal. Anthony, as Jonathan Nehring of Hoops Rumors touched on last night, has a history of going with the green.

Besides, rebuilding isn’t Dolan’s style. The Knicks have never made rebuilding trades and Windhorst reasons that they’re not going to start with the biggest star they’ve had since Patrick Ewing.

Carmelo’s Future Is Predictable

December 6th, 2013 at 8:56pm CST by Jonathan Nehring

All eyes appear to be on Carmelo Anthony of late as he grows to be one of the hottest commodities this upcoming offseason.

While Carmelo is under contract with the Knicks through next season, next year’s salary is an early termination option which Carmelo has already expressed he plans to exercise this summer. In February, the Knicks could negotiate to extend Carmelo’s contract but Carmelo asked the Knicks on the first day of training camp to not discuss an extension. In November, Carmelo backed down from his previous statements and said he hopes to retire with the Knicks. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith contradicted that statement this week reporting Anthony had already decided to leave New York. Carmelo adamantly denied that report.

Contradicting reports leave Anthony’s future uncertain but ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst says Carmelo’s past actions show he is in New York to stay. Windhorst points out that Carmelo has approached his NBA career with the mindset to look out for himself first and capture as much money as he can during his short career.

In 2006, Anthony refused to gamble $20MM in guaranteed money and took a five-year max salary deal instead of the three year extension LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh took. Before that contract expired, Carmelo demanded a trade to the team he wanted to play for the following year as a free agent. Being traded to the Knicks allowed Anthony to sign a more favorable extension than he would have received in free agency. And again, at the beginning of this season, Carmelo said he will exercise his early termination option to become a free agent. Another move that will bring Anthony more money.

This favors the Knicks as they will be able to re-sign Carmelo for an extra year and $30MM more than any other team in the league. If Anthony continues to make his decisions based on money – New York is where he will retire.

That is, unless he demands to be traded this season or to be signed and traded next offseason. Sam Smith of Bulls.com thinks Knicks fans shouldn’t worry about these options.

Smith says the Knicks are very unlikely to trade him this season because they know how much Carmelo values the extra year and $30MM. Carmelo will be 34 at the end of his next contract so he and the Knicks realize this is likely his last chance to capture a max deal. The Knicks think this motivation will force Carmelo to re-sign with them this offseason.

The Knicks are also unlikely to complete a sign-and-trade since Carmelo’s bargaining power appears weak. Carmelo can’t threaten to sign with another team in free agency for less money when his track record shows otherwise and another contract beyond this one doesn’t appear imminent. Windhorst also points out that the Knicks dug quite a deep hole to obtain Anthony and no fair value will be available for the Knicks to get in return via trade.

Carmelo Anthony Recruiting Rajon Rondo?

December 6th, 2013 at 9:35am CST by Chuck Myron

Rajon Rondo can’t become a free agent until the summer of 2015 and remains sidelined after an ACL tear, but his high school coach claims the recruitment process has already begun. Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smith tells USA Today’s Jason Jordan that Carmelo Anthony is trying to woo Rondo to New York. Anthony also played under Smith at Oak Hill, but the Knicks star seems intent on opting out of his contract this summer, making his interest in recruiting a class of 2015 free agent to New York a potential sign that he wants to re-sign with the Knicks.

New York reportedly tried to trade for Rondo earlier this season in a deal involving Iman Shumpert, only to meet with refusal from Celtics GM Danny Ainge, who denies that any talk of a Rondo swap took place. It could be that the high school coach is making reference to these talks rather than free agency, insinuating that Anthony is lobbying the Knicks front office to pursue trading for Rondo and that the two stars have had their own private discussions about it. That’s just my speculation, of course.

Rondo is set to become one of the most sought-after free agents in 2015, assuming he returns to form after the injury and doesn’t sign an extension with the Celtics. The Knicks are set up to shed most of their bloated payroll after the 2014/15 season, making a Rondo signing a possibility.

New York Notes: Knicks, Nets, JVG, Carmelo

December 5th, 2013 at 5:44pm CST by Ryan Raroque

We’re less than an hour before tip-off between the Atlantic Division’s cellar dwelling Knicks and Nets, and despite both teams’ struggles to start the season, one of the two will be able to avoid sinking further for now with a win tonight. Here’s some of the latest out of Manhattan and Brooklyn:

SB Nation’s Tom Ziller goes into detail about what’s ailing the Knicks and Nets, how both teams should fare over the course of the season, and what may be in store if things continue to go poorly.
To those who doubt that Knicks owner James Dolan would be willing to work with Jeff Van Gundy again after the latter’s abrupt in-season exit over a decade ago, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reminds us that in April 2008, Van Gundy had been considered for the the head coaching job by then-team executive Donnie Walsh. Isola also states that Dolan approved of the team’s interest in Van Gundy back then as well, although the former head coach would later tell Walsh that he wasn’t interested (Twitter links).
Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld ponders what the current trade market for Carmelo Anthony is, and, considering that the Knicks star has the option to become an unrestricted free agent after this season and/or won’t necessarily have to commit long-term elsewhere if traded, argues that the team will have no other choice but to explore low-ball offers at this point.
Following last season’s team exit interview, Mike Woodson was under the impression that Jason Kidd would be returning for another season with the Knicks, and was caught off-guard by the 40-year-old point guard’s retirement: “Absolutely I thought he was coming back…I did. I was surprised. Jason spent a long time in this league. He has the right to retire and move on. Obviously he had something else going and wound up here as a head coach. We would’ve loved to have him back. It wasn’t the case” (Marc Berman of the New York Post via Sulia).

Carmelo Denies Already Deciding On His Future

December 5th, 2013 at 10:52am CST by Zachary Links

Everyone is wondering what Carmelo Anthony will do when he hits the open market in the summer of 2014, and that apparently includes Anthony himself. In response to boisterous ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith reporting that sources have told him the Knicks star has decided to skip town, Anthony issued a flat denial, tweets Rod Boone of Newsday.

Anthony went on to say that he doesn’t talk to those close to him about his future plans (link). “Anybody in my crew, anybody on my team, family, nobody.” He also asserted that if a story doesn’t come from him then it’s “not true” (link).

Anthony, who is coming up on his three-year anniversary of being traded to New York, has been vocal about his frustration over the club’s putrid start. For those who believe LeBron James is staying put in Miami, Anthony appears to be the top prize in a loaded free agent class this summer.

Knicks Rumors: Love, Carmelo, Chris Smith

November 12th, 2013 at 8:49am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks are the latest team to be featured in our Offseason in Review series, with Zach Links recapping the club’s summer moves last night. So far though, New York’s offseason additions haven’t been paying dividends, as the Knicks have struggled out of the gate, losing four of their first six games. They’ll have a chance to climb closer to .500 tomorrow night in Atlanta, in a game James Dolan guaranteed his team would win. As the Knicks prepare for that contest, let’s round up a few interesting tidbits on the club from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:

The Knicks are already looking ahead and planning their strategy for the summer of 2015, when big contracts for Amar’e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, and Andrea Bargnani all come off the books. According to Wojnarowski, the club is eyeing Kevin Love, and has already begun to devise a strategy to lure him to New York when the time comes.
Of course, it’s possible Carmelo Anthony will no longer be a Knick by that point. However, the Lakers are considered the most credible threat for Carmelo, and one source rhetorically asks Wojnarowski: “Do you think ‘Melo wants to be known for not winning titles in New York and L.A.?”
Referring to the signings of J.R. Smith and younger brother Chris Smith as a package deal, Wojnarowski cites a source who says former GM Glen Grunwald “never wanted” to sign Chris, and that the call came down from above him.
Wojnarowski writes that some Knicks coaches don’t believe Chris Smith is a D-League player, let alone an NBA player. One GM called the younger Smith “maybe the worst player in the history of the Summer League,” according to Wojnarowski.