Earlier this week, the NY Daily News quoted a source who said Carmelo Anthony had decided to re-sign with the New York Knicks and would inform the team of his decision on Thursday. Half of that report was accurate. Don’t worry, Knicks fans — it was the important half.
According to various NBA writers on Twitter, Anthony was in the final stages of negotiating a five-year deal with the Knicks on Saturday and told the Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets — the two other teams that were courting him — to move on. The deal is believed to be a maximum contract of $129 million.
Phil Jackson claims he made five different contract offers to Carmelo, so he seemed confident the two sides would be able to work something out. Anthony supposedly believes in Jackson and is on board with the plan he has for the future of the Knicks.
There was some speculation that Carmelo was waiting for LeBron James to make a decision to see if it would be possible for the two to play together, and there is probably some truth to that. But like the rest of us, I’m sure Anthony knew it was unrealistic. His wife La La loves New York and probably didn’t want to move, which made the decision even easier.
