The New York Knicks have paused their trade talks involving Carmelo Anthony now that they have hired a new general manager, but the 33-year-old has reportedly already made up his mind about wanting to play for another team.
Shortly after the Knicks sent a second-round pick and cash to the Sacramento Kings to hire Scott Perry as their new GM, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News was told by a source that Anthony has committed to leaving.
Source: Hiring of Scott Perry doesn't change Carmelo's position. Knicks got him to agree to trade. He's ready to go. https://t.co/FecKApojGF
— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) July 14, 2017
The poor relationship between Anthony and Phil Jackson is obviously what got the ball rolling, so there was some belief that Carmelo could reject any trades and stay in New York now that Jackson is gone. However, Isola notes that trade talks involving Anthony only “intensified” after Steve Mills took over as interim GM.
Anthony said for months that he wanted to remain in New York, but the Knicks finally convinced him that he is not in their future plans. Now that they are clearly trending toward a total rebuild, you can understand why Anthony wants out.
The holdup at the moment is that Anthony only wants to play for one of two teams, and neither of those teams have what the Knicks are looking for.
