NBA Trade Rumors: Carmelo Anthony Preventing New York Knicks From Trading Him

NBA trade rumors still swirl around New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, but the Big Apple native is said to be using his no-trade clause in his contract to prevent the team from moving him elsewhere, according to Basketball Insiders.

When the New York Knicks were losing a bunch of games last season, there were reports that Carmelo Anthony was looking for a way out of town, which was much more believable last season because the future for Antony and the Knicks did not look bright whatsoever.

There were also still rumors swirling around Carmelo Anthony when New York Knicks team president Phil Jackson opted to select a relatively unknown and skinny Latvian forward by the name of Kristaps Porzingis during the NBA Draft, a move that was widely booed by fans in attendance at the Barclays Center.

Back when that happened, Carmelo Anthony told the media that he was happy with the New York Knicks and their situation, which might not have been genuine back then but is genuine now that Kristaps Porzingis has shown potential to be an NBA superstar some day.

Since Carmelo Anthony is 31 years old and wants badly to win an NBA championship, rumors about his desire to leave the New York Knicks for a franchise that is already loaded and geared for a long playoff run will continue to swirl around until the trade deadline actually comes and goes.

Despite all the rumors, Carmelo Anthony appears genuine in his desire to stay with the New York Knicks and wait on Phil Jackson to surround him with an NBA Finals caliber team, and the 6’8?, 230-pound forward is not afraid to utilize his no-trade clause to ensure that he doesn’t end up on another team.

Carmelo Anthony believes that Phil Jackson can find a dynamic guard to go along with he and Kristaps Porzingis, which would make the New York Knicks a much more balanced and talented squad.

Nothing against Jose Calderon, but he is more of a rotation player than a building block that can help the New York Knicks do something that they haven’t done since Phil Jackson was playing for the team back in the 1970s.

Phil Jackson has an NBA caliber center in Robin Lopez and an improved two-way player in Lance Thomas to dangle if he wanted to seek out an NBA team that wants to make a trade before the deadline passes in February.

If Phil Jackson were successfully able to swing a transaction before the NBA trading deadline, then the New York Knicks, who are sitting on a 22-24 record and currently hold the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference, might just be able to sneak in the playoffs and become a potential first round upset.

If not, then Carmelo Anthony, who seems to have found patience and maturity last summer, can simply wait until next year to take the New York Knicks back to the NBA Playoffs, as Phil Jackson will have some salary cap space to pursue help via free agency.

Outside of basketball, Carmelo Anthony considers New York City to be his home, which is a big reason why he forced the Denver Nuggets to trade him a couple of years back.

Carmelo Anthony is also serious about being an entrepreneur, so he needs to be as close as possible to all of his business ventures that are based in New York City, a place that provides a lot of opportunities because so many other companies are based there.

Carmelo Anthony is not leaving the New York Knicks.

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