WATCH: Why The Knicks Should Re-Sign Carmelo Anthony
When the Knicks traded Carmelo Anthony, I shed a tear. My childhood superhero was gone from my favorite basketball team, and I don't think it was an unfair reaction. Seeing Carmelo leave, even if you deemed the move necessary for the team at the time, was nothing short of upsetting to me.
In my previous video breakdown, I spoke on some of the Knicks' options in terms of who they might want to acquire to start at power forward next season: Carmelo Anthony was one of them. I don't believe that the team should be looking to acquire Anthony as a starting wing, but he would be well suited coming off the bench for the team now run by his former agent, Leon Rose. Marc Berman reported back in February that a return to New York was in play once the team hired Rose to run their basketball operations, and Ian Begley wrote in a mailbag for SNY that he will continue to link the Knicks with Carmelo Anthony. Begley also noted that the connection between Anthony and Rose is the leading reason for this connection.
If Anthony were to sign in New York and accept a bench role, he would provide the team's secondary unit with the veteran experience and scoring ability that will likely have other teams interested in his services; however, his relationship with Rose may be enough to get him to come to the Knicks.
If Rose can get Carmelo to buy into a significantly smaller role than the one he previously held with the franchise, the move would benefit the Knicks, and their young players that they should be hoping to surround with shooting, greatly. In my opinion, there are few players in the league who are better suited to teach RJ Barrett how he can succeed in his current situation than Carmelo Anthony.
