Dwyane Wade doesn't think (the reportedly unhappy) Carmelo Anthony will ever ask for a trade
It’s a tale for our age: Carmelo Anthony, and his no-trade clause. The New York Knicks star loves the agreed-upon deal prohibition as much as he loves working out of New York, and luckily for him those two commitments tend to work hand in hand.
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That’s not exactly the best news for fans of the team that actually plays in New York, though, with the Knicks humping along at 18 wins after 40 games, still irrelevant in the grand scheme but unable to wrest itself from the clutches of our collective interest due to the staggering amount of outsized NBA personnel working within the Madison Square Garden climate.
Anthony figures in this, alongside president Phil Jackson and-first year Knicks guard Derrick Rose, formerly of the Bulls. Rose angered MSG this week by failing to inform the team of his whereabouts after he flew home to Chicago to attend to a personal matter, netting himself a fine alongside the loss of a game’s pay (nearing $200,000).
Another Chicago native and actual Chicago Bull, first-year Bulls guard Dwyane Wade, remains close with his pal Anthony, and he wasn’t shy when it came to offering an opinion as to the future of the Knicks’ thirtysomething All-Star, as the 2017 NBA trade deadline approaches in February.
Via Pro Basketball Talk, Wade dug in on Anthony’s insistence on remaining a Knick above all. From the New York Daily News:
“He loves it here. He loves being here. His family loves it here. And he wants to win here,” Wade told the Daily News at shootaround Thursday. “He’s going to be here as long as they want him here — win, lose or draw.”
This is hardly warming news for New York. Though Anthony is working with 22-point, six-rebound averages in just 33.4 minutes a contest, he’s plying his trade for a sub-standard team working in the sub-standard East, with over $54 million left on his deal after this season, spread out over two years. An important bit of knowledge, as Anthony turns 33 in May.
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The Knicks don’t figure to be active on May 29, Anthony’s birthday and the time of year when the Eastern Conference finals (a place the Knicks haven’t been since the year 2000) usually take place. This is why, with 21-year old phenom Kristaps Porzingis already playing himself to the brink (he’s missed four of eight games entering Sunday’s contest with Toronto) with Achilles soreness, it might be wisest to let Anthony go in exchange for a batch of younger helpers and draft assets.
Anthony has to waive his no-trade clause first, though, something he’s shown no interest in doing since signing his maxed-out contract with Phil Jackson and the Knicks back in the summer of 2014.
Wade, who has signed three different contracts and moved teams (shockingly, after 13 years, to Chicago) during that stretch, spoke earlier this year about his uneasiness in having too much insight into what his own team’s front office is up to during this time of season:
“When I was a young player in Miami and I was making my way up the ranks, I think they got me involved in certain things,’’ Wade said. “And then it started becoming very uncomfortable. When guys that you’re teammates of and they start talking about trades and all this stuff, and I just said, ‘You know what? Don’t involve me in it.’
“When it comes to obviously calling guys trying to help better your team and all those things, I’ve always been involved in that. But when it comes to decisions that have to be made on players and stuff like that, I don’t get paid to do that.’’
This was a point Wade returned to on Thursday, prior to Chicago’s nationally-televised loss in New York:
“That’s not our role or our job. A man makes a decision,” Wade said. “If he gets to that point in his career where he can’t do it here and he wants to do that, then that’s on him. That’s a decision that he’ll make. … We support him in whatever decision he wants to make for his career. And like I said, right now, his goal is eventually to do it here. But whatever happens, happens.”
This would seem to be the year for something to go down, with the Knicks’ 2016 offseason re-design bearing inconsistent bushels and Rose turning the NBA on his ear with his absence from the squad.
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He returned in time for the team’s embarrassing last-second defeat against Philadelphia on Wednesday, with Anthony watching as Sixer sprite T.J. McConnell hit a game-winner in his face on Wednesday.
Reportedly, following that contest, Anthony was no fun to be around in the Knickerbocker locker room:
According to a source close to the Knicks’ veteran forward, Anthony went on a tirade after the shocking loss, admonishing his teammates for blowing a 10-point lead in the final 2:30 to the inexperienced 76ers. He was also upset that he was frozen out on the Knicks final possession, a sequence that ended with Kristaps Porzingis shooting an air ball from the corner which led to Philadelphia’s fast-break. Anthony never touched the ball.
He did touch Twitter:
I'm Thankful for ALL of it. The Highs. The Lows. The Blessings. The Lessons. The Setbacks. The Comebacks. The Love. THE HATE. Everything. pic.twitter.com/ST7Nbu2E5I
— Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) January 14, 2017
Frank Isola, who was behind the Daily News report on his blowup, reminded readers that Anthony has no interest in waiving that clause.
Mindful of this, Phil Jackson appears to be taking the Jerry Krause Approach. If the players won’t walk away on their own, why not make them as uncomfortable as can be prior to a player-inspired separation?
Why else, besides his ravishing sense of entitlement, would Jackson drone on about Anthony’s offensive shortcomings in an interview earlier in 2016-17? Why would Jackson’s longtime confidante, Charley Rosen, wait until now to pen something like this?
Moreover, his sticky fingers causes whatever ball-and-player movement is in effect to come to a grinding stop.
(These are things that just sound good to say, without much to go on by way of recent events, but let’s let Charley – via the New York Post – take his drive.)
Since Melo has been mostly shooting blanks in the clutch — he was scoreless in the fourth quarter last night — it’s really a dead stop.
Also, while he’s never been accused of playing defense, Anthony is intent on saving even more steps on this end of the game to conserve his energy for offense.
He’s four months away from his 33rd birthday, his contract is humongous and contains a no-trade clause. It’s understood that he’d only accept being dealt to the Cavaliers or the Clippers.
[…]
The only sure thing is that Carmelo Anthony has outlived his usefulness in New York.
He might not be alone!
Agent B.J. Armstrong, no stranger when it comes to strong-arming teams he isn’t keen on playing for, reminded us on Saturday that “a simple text” from his client Derrick Rose would have made New York’s previous crisis all the more palatable instead of the chaos that ultimately resulted:
Rose has apologized profusely (along with tossing in some contract expectations) prior to allowing us to note that his absence from the Knicks truly was partially driven by family concerns, but he remains a high-usage millstone on both ends despite some solid counting stats (17.5 points per game, 4.4 assists), all while working in a contract year.
The Knicks, following Saturday evening’s action, are now two and a half games out of the final playoff spot in the East, and a game and a half behind the Bulls for the ninth spot in the conference. While boasting the East’s fifth-highest payroll. Moving Carmelo Anthony (whose trade kicker would require the Knicks take back on around $30 million in salary) wouldn’t immediately lighten that load, but it would give New York the chance to say it has begun rebuilding the right way.
Something the franchise has never, ever done. Don’t ever accuse Dwyane Wade of not knowing his friends, and not knowing his NBA history.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
