In 24 hours, Carmelo Anthony will have the opportunity to meet with any team he wants to and make the jump for the New York Knicks to somewhere he believes is better suited for winning. Plenty of franchises are ready to take on the high-scoring guard and offer him a max deal, but what are the chances the Knicks retain their franchise star for the long term? According to Phil Jackson, pretty good.
The New York Knicks still remain very confident that they can hold on to Anthony in free agency despite the guard opting out of his contract to test the market. Team president Jackson is already making moves with the guard in mind. He traded away Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton in exchange for point guard Jose Calderon who will be a huge upgrade for the offense. The move clears up cap space which will allow the Knicks to make a run at several other big named players this offseason.
ESPN.com is reporting that while Anthony plans on meeting with other teams, he is happy with the progress New York is putting together so far. The next move will focus around replacing Chandler. According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Jackson plans on making Pau Gasol a priority for the Knicks in order to replace the rebounding that Chandler is taking with him to the Dallas Mavericks. Jackson and Gasol have a long history together and the team president is hoping that relationship can carry over to New York.
The issue will be the contract offer. The Knicks will only be able to offer the center less than $4 million this upcoming season which is not as much as a few other teams can offer. The Knicks are cash strapped and will need to make a few more trades in order to really have some pull on the market. Along with Gasol, the Knicks are looking at players like Marcin Gortat and Chris Bosh since he opted out of the Miami Heat.
The Knicks still must make trades if they intend on signing a player that will please Anthony. After Felton and Chandler, Amar'e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert are expected to be the next players shopped. That does not mean a trade is guaranteed, but Jackson has hinted at future moves and they hold some value on the market. The Knicks will at least take a look into what they could possible get in exchange for both players.
Jackson remains coy on the future of Anthony in New York. He is saying all of the right things so far, understanding the guard has every right to talk with other franchises and see what he can get.
"It's a big question because there are so many things that can happen out there," Jackson said, via ESPN.com. "We really don't know. With LeBron getting in this free agency ... we don't know what all that means. But we have every confidence that Carmelo is good for what his word is, that he wants to be in New York, he likes playing in New York, he wants to compete, he wants to be part of a playoff team that is competitive toward a championship."