NBA Rumors: Knicks Won't Move For Lakers Target

Carmelo Anthony’s desire to play one final season in the NBA is looking less likely to come to fruition as time passes with no team showing concrete interest to sign the 10-time All-Star at the moment. The New York Knicks were said to be interested in bringing back their former player but it diminished as their offseason plans unraveled.

The 35-year-old small forward was signed by the Houston Rockets prior to the start of the 2018-19 campaign after his contract was bought out by Atlanta Hawks. But his career under Mike D’Antoni lasted just 10 games before he was removed from the squad and eventually traded to Chicago Bulls, who later waived him.

The free agent has not played in the NBA since Nov. 2018 and was hoping to have one final season, similar to what Dwayne Wade had with Miami Heat last season. Anthony’s trainer described the forward as 100 percent ready and even went on to claim that he is better than 60 or 70 percent of the players with NBA contracts at the moment.

The Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers were the only teams to show interest in signing the All-Star but The Athletic’s Shams Charania believes that is unlikely to happen before the season starts. The New York franchise were ready to re-sign him but only if they signed two big free agents in the offseason like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, but the duo instead chose to sign for crosstown rivals Brooklyn Nets.

“If New York had landed two major free agents this summer, the franchise had planned to consider bringing back Carmelo Anthony, league sources say,” Charania wrote indicating that Anthony’s chances of returning to New York are slim at this point.

The Lakers, on the other hand, were said to be keen to partner Anthony with LeBron James but the arrival of Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and Danny Green this summer is likely to see them go in another direction. They do have one roster spot left to fill but Charania believes they are likely to hold out for someone like Andre Iguodala, who could either be traded or bought out by the Grizzlies.