NBA Rumors: New York Knicks Want To Trade Carmelo Anthony, Return For All-Star Could Be Minimal

There were rumors a year ago that the New York Knicks were included in talks of a trade that would've sent Carmelo Anthony to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and word of the team shopping the small forward resurfaced at the 2017 NBA trade deadline. As Phil Jackson looks to put together a roster for the 2017-2018 season, the Knicks’ president has made it clear that New York wants to move Anthony.

It’s a stance that Jackson took when the regular season ended, telling the media that Anthony would be better off in a new uniform. He reiterated his feelings at the NBA draft combine, possibly hurting Anthony’s trade value in the process.

“We'd like him to have success," Jackson told reporters Friday. “The opportunity is narrowing. We'd just like him to have success somewhere. We're not going to be there. Hopefully, we'll be maybe a playoff team next year. It would be tough to consider us a possible champion.”

If it was up to Jackson and the Knicks, Anthony might be gone soon after the NBA Finals. The 2017 NBA Draft is coming up, and New York would love to trade Anthony to a team that’s willing to give up a first-round pick and possibly other young players.

Jackson, however, probably won't get his way.

“He has a no-trade contract,” Jackson said. “I think I expressed what I felt. I can't express it any better. I thought it was well-said, even though a lot of you didn't feel quite that way.”

Anthony has made a commitment to trying to win a championship in New York, essentially forcing a trade to the Knicks in 2011 and signing a five-year contract with the team in 2014 when Jackson arrived. The Knicks haven’t had a winning season since they gave Anthony his $124 million deal, and trading him has become more difficult than ever.

“Phil made a statement basically that Carmelo’s a losing type of player. Well, if he’s a loser for the Knicks, he’s going to be a winner someplace else? That obviously didn’t help,” one Eastern Conference executive said, via The New York Post.

“Tremendously,” another executive said when asked how much Anthony’s trade value might have been damaged by Jackson’s comments. “He essentially said, ‘I want to dump this guy.’”

Anthony was consistently on winning teams during the first half of his career with the Denver Nuggets, but he didn’t have much postseason success, reaching the conference finals just once. He’s made the playoffs three times with the Knicks, and New York’s first-round victory over the Boston Celtics in 2013 is their only series win since 2000.

For years, Anthony had been considered to be among the NBA’s elite players. While he remains a more than capable scorer with 22.4 points per game this past regular season, the 10-time All-Star is no longer one of the league’s top performers.

The Los Angeles Clippers have been mentioned as a possible suitor for Anthony, though the Knicks probably wouldn’t receive a first-rounder or a young player with star potential in return. The two teams discussed a deal in February, and the inclusion of J.J. Redick might make a trade possible this offseason.

The Boston Celtics reportedly turned down the opportunity to trade for Anthony at this year’s deadline. Even if they reconsidered a deal in the summer, it’s hard to believe Boston would part with any of their draft picks for the 32-year-old.