The NY Knicks are looking to sign back Carmelo Anthony this offseason and to do that, the team may have to explore trades with Tyson Chandler, Raymond Felton and Amar'e Stoudemire as well as Iman Shumpert and Andrea Bargnani and this comes as Melo is expected to opt out of his contract and test free agency this summer.
Anthony is the main priority for the Knicks this offseason if he opts out of his contract and recent reports say he will do that and this comes just a few years after he was traded from Denver to New York. The Knicks brought in Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher this year and the franchise is doing a full court press on Anthony and teams like the Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls are also targeting him and they will need to make extra moves to get enough cap space to sign him.
According to ESPN.com, Amar'e Stoudemire will opt in to his contract at $23 million and that was an expected move and while it will be tough, the Knicks and Phil Jackson will try and trade him. The team has Raymond Felton and Iman Shumpert and those players could get moved as well as they try and sign back Anthony along with other free agents on the market. The contract for Stoudemire is coming into the final year of his contract after signing a five-year, $100 million deal and he plans on staying. That money may need to get moved around and Jackson will need some good luck for someone to take that contract on.
The Knicks had a rough season last year and missed the playoffs after winning just 37 games and now Anthony could be leaning towards leaving New York. Anthony missed out on the playoffs for the first time in his career and that could lead to him making the choice to leave and he will have suitors, as the Bulls, Rockets and Heat all could be options, while the Dallas Mavericks are also planning on making a run at him. The Knicks missed the playoffs last season and started off 3-13 and now they are hoping to rebound in 2014.
LeBron James and Kevin Love are two of the big names being talked about this summer and Anthony is right there as well and now the Knicks have to find a way to keep him. The Knicks are still a year or two away from competing even if they keep Anthony and if they lose him that would be very tough after just trading for him a few years ago.
The NBA offseason is now close to starting after the finals ended and that means free agency and trade rumors will start flying and names like Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo will likely be at the center of them for teams like the Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Miami Heat.