New York Knicks: 2017-18 season preview

Storyline 1: Will Carmelo Anthony be traded, and when?

The New York Knicks have been dancing a strange jig with Carmelo Anthony for years, off-and-on denying that they are looking to deal him while simultaneously fielding calls from the entire league on his trade value.

With Phil Jackson no longer in place in the front office, one area of friction between Anthony and the organization has been removed. But that doesn’t remove the fact that the Knicks are a team with little chance of contending while Anthony is still near his prime.

But Anthony also likes living in New York and playing for the Knicks organization. His wife La La is said to also like living in New York City. He and his family much prefer living in a major city than the likes of Cleveland, Portland or Oklahoma City.

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The New York Knicks are motivated to move Anthony, as the only other option to see him leave the organization would be a buyout, one that would cost the Knicks a significant amount of money. But with Carmelo Anthony holding a no-trade clause in his contract, he can control where he goes.

The Houston Rockets are a popular landing place, but after the Chris Paul trade they do not have many remaining assets that they would be willing to part with. The Knicks don’t want the three years remaining on Ryan Anderson’s deal, and the Rockets are loath to part with any significant assets to move Anderson and thus open up the space for Anthony, especially when they would still need to manufacture something to make it worth the Knicks’ while.

Even with potential hang-ups, some parties feel strongly that a deal with the Rockets will be accomplished soon. Frank Isola of the New York Daily News stated that Anthony’s camp expects a trade to go down by Monday.

If it were up to the Knicks, then Anthony would most likely have been moved already. But the former All-NBA forward isn’t going just anywhere, and that trade-veto gives him the power to control the situation, with Cleveland and OKC recently joining the list of preferred destinations. Anthony has almost all of the leverage, which means a deal is far from a sure thing.