'Make It Happen!': NBA Exec Wants Knicks, Carmelo Anthony Reunion
Madison Square Garden has played host to plenty of last stands and farewell tours. What's one more?
An anonymous NBA executive feels like there'd be no better way for free agent Carmelo Anthony to go out, urging the local New York Knicks to break his jersey out of storage and help him continue his NBA career. The Syracuse alum and 10-time All-Star lingers on the free agency ledger after spending last season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
"Why not just sign Melo already?" the exec said in comments to Heavy.com. "If they make a trade and they wind up with a roster spot, they’ve got to do that. They need a good story. He needs a good ending. Make it happen, right?”
This is far from the first time that an Anthony reunion tour has permeated the imaginations of Knicks fans: one of the NBA's newly-minted 75 greatest players was said to have "interest" in re-donning blue and orange over the summer. Further credence was granted to that rumor by the fact that Anthony's son Kiyan is attending Christ the King Regional High School in Queens.
Anthony also reportedly drew interest from the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics during the offseason but did not sign. More recent rumors have had him following in Dwight Howard's footsteps and discussing potential opportunities overseas, namely in Taiwan.
Though the team failed to generate any realistic championship noise during Anthony's original tenure (2011-17), he provided some memorable Manhattan moments that broke the dreary nature of the new-century Knicks, including a single-game franchise record 62 points during a January 2014 win over Charlotte. Anthony, having arrived in a February 2011 trade with Denver, is one of seven players to score at least 10,000 points in Knick uniform and also ranks third in franchise history in points per game among qualifiers.
Issues with Knicks management eventually forced a trade to Oklahoma City in 2017, beginning a bit of a nomadic stretch of Anthony's career. As it stands, Anthony is the ninth all-time leading scorer in NBA history, currently sitting at 28,289.
The idea of an open roster spot comes as the Knicks (9-9) linger in the lower portions of the Eastern Conference's six automatic playoff spots. With a relative logjam at guard, the team has reportedly been open to dealing names like Immanuel Quickley and Derrick Rose. The team recently introduced a nine-man rotation during a lucrative western swing (going 3-2 with wins over Utah and Denver), one that had relegated veterans like Evan Fournier and Quentin Grimes to the bench before the latter got back in the starting five in the wake of Cam Reddish's groin injury.
Ironically, an Anthony reunion was indirectly endorsed by a former Knicks coach, Mike Woodson, who declared he'd sign his former protege if he was still in the Association. Woodson worked with Anthony for three seasons as the Knicks' head coach, where they united to win 54 games and the franchise's only playoff series triumph since 2001.
"If I was still coaching in that league, he would be on my team,” Woodson, currently the head coach at Indiana University, said in an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “I still think he can get you 15 to 20 points a night.”
Though Anthony, 38, was part of the modern Lakers' woes last season, he still proved relatively serviceable at 13.3 points and 4.2 rebounds over 69 games.
The Knicks will take on another former Anthony employer, the Portland Trail Blazers, on Friday night (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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