Courtesy: USA Today
The New York Knicks are off to a slow start. They are currently 3-9. Surrounding the Knicks have been trade rumors, injures, suspensions and lots of criticism. The Knicks have made some questionable decisions this year.
All of these things have a big impact in their franchise. What will it affect most? Whether or not Carmelo Antony is staying in New York City.
Carmelo Anthony has openly admitted that this summer, he plans on opting out and testing the free agency market. Every move they Knicks have made and are going to make will affect Carmelo Anthony’s decision to stay or leave New York.
Right now, it appears as if nothing is the way Melo thought it would be like in New York. You can tell by looking and listening to him, he is frustrated. The Knicks lack of supporting pieces has had a huge impact in their struggles this season. For instance, when they lost Tyson Chandler to an injury, there roster mistakes began to become more apparent.
The Knicks opted on keeping Chris Smith, J.R. Smith’s brother and giving him the 15th spot on their roster. After paying him over $2Million, Chris is now in the D-League playing with the Erie BayHawks. Chris Smith was called “the worst player ever” by an NBA GM. Yahoo Sports, Adrian Wojnarowski, wrote that some Knicks coaches didn’t believe that Chris is good enough for the development league.
Apparently, it was rumored that this move was to make J.R. Smith happy, why the Knicks care so much on Smith being happy, I’m unsure. Smith didn’t care to mention that he needed knee surgery until after re-signing that big contract.
Smith started the season by serving a five game suspension for violating the NBA’s drug policy. The Knicks obviously have made bad roster decisions. The player they need to focus on keeping happy is Carmelo Anthony. As of right now, the Knicks organization hasn’t been doing their job. Who is in charge of their priorities?
Carmelo Antony was promised a team, filled with supporting role players to win a title. Right now, Carmelo carries the whole team. This season, Carmelo is averaging 39.9 minutes per game. Compared to other superstar athletes, on championship potential teams, Melo averages the most minutes. For instance, in a comparison of minutes played: LeBron James 35.0MP, Stephen Curry 32,7MP, Kevin Love 35.4, Chris Paul 36.0MP, Derrick Rose 31.0MP. The only player who averages almost as many minutes a night is Kevin Durant, who averages 39.4MP per night.
The Knicks have forced the workload on Carmelo Anthony and this is a major contributing factor to why he wants to test free agency. Last year, the Knicks did have a winning formula, Carmelo won scoring champion and he averaged 37.9MP. So what’s wrong? The majority of the blame falls on the Knicks roster, which now has Melo acting as the workhorse. I believe what Melo is thinking, is that all of these minutes are taking a toll on his future career. When your losing and working your ass off, frustration will just build. This year and the upcoming offseason are extremely important to Carmelo Anthony’s future and the New York Knicks’ future.
As of now, the Knicks last win came against the Atlanta Hawks on November 13, 2013.This is their worst start since the 2009-2010 season. During that season, they finished 29-53. Even though Melo was not on that squad, the Knicks have not shown a single sign of consistency at all this season.
Courtesy: The Hoop Doctors.comlo
Right now, they are going into an intense Western road trip, playing the Blazers, Clippers, Nuggets and Pelicans before coming home. If this trip is unsuccessful, the Knicks could come back to the East with a record of 3-13. I wouldn’t be surprised if they won just one out of those four road games.
Right now, its time to hit the panic button for the New York Knicks franchise. Every day and every loss, the roads for Melo are pointing elsewhere.
Mike Woodson and Carmelo have been in New York roughly around the same length of time. For some reason, James Dolan, has decided it is not time to pull the plug on Woodson. Dolan has expressed to media that he still has confidence in Mike Woodson’s coaching ability but could a coaching change help winning? After losing to the Wizards, Melo told media, one of their problems was Woodson’s roster. If Woodson can’t put together a winning rotation with the group of guys he has, well then its time to think of a change.
Because right now, the only thing that will keep Melo is winning. I look at the Knicks and they do have not displayed enough effort in trying to keep Melo.
Yes, it has been rumored that the Knicks plan on pursuing Kevin Love in the offseason. This move could be a little too late. The Knicks have to think, if they do not keep Melo, they lose all chances of Love.
Right now, the Knicks are exactly where they started when they first got Carmelo in a trade from Denver. They are trying to promise him a blueprint, with supporting pieces to win an NBA Title. Its failed once and I do not believe Melo will wait around to see if it will worked the second time around.
The time is now. If they Knicks want to have any chance of keeping Carmelo Anthony, they need to make trades and moves now. Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin should be traded and the Knicks have young pieces such as Shumpert and Hardaway Jr. that could sweeten trading deals.
If the New York Knicks, continue to fail on and off the court this season, Carmelo Anthony is going to leave, without a doubt. I believe he is already done with the New York scene. Where he will end up? That’s the next big question.
All statistics credited to nba.com and basketball-reference.com
