Carmelo Anthony is 32 years old and running out of time to win an NBA championship. The Knicks stink. He knows it. The Knicks know it. Everyone knows it.
With the team missing the playoffs once again, Anthony sounds like he’s prepared to accept a trade to any team with a chance at winning a title, according to the New York Post.
“Just communicate with me and be up-front with me,’’ Anthony said of his future with the Knicks. “I’m open.”
Though he said he would “love to stay’’ if he heard a “commitment to winning” now from Knicks president Phil Jackson, it was clear he didn’t expect their conversation to go that route at his exit meeting, which was slated for Thursday.
Anthony is “open” to waiving his no-trade clause if the Knicks want to rebuild around Kristaps Porzingis. He has said that before, but for the first time, Anthony truly sounded open to a trade to any place in the NBA he regards as a winner — whether it be Canada with the Raptors or the plains of Oklahoma with the Thunder.
After three straight playoff-less seasons with the Knicks and seven overall, Anthony has had enough. He’s willing to go to Oklahoma to fulfill his dreams, which would make him the first person to make the New York-Oklahoma move for work since Chandler Bing moved to Tulsa for a better job with his company.
Anthony appears to have no faith in Jackson’s ability to build a winner, so he’s happy to be a trade piece that gets the Knicks going. It will be interesting to see if the Knicks buy into the “it’s not you, it’s me” routine and let Anthony play out his remaining years in the league somewhere else.
