Carmelo Antony controls his destiny with the New York Knicks. The team is struggling and he is the franchise player in the prime of his career. Anthony could easily go anywhere and let the Knicks rebuild without him, as his no-trade clause in his contract allows him to forge his own path. For now, Anthony is staying committed to the Knicks, having rejected a trade elsewhere, and rookie Kristaps Porzingis is happy about it.
Anthony rejected a trade at the NBA deadline that would have sent him to the Boston Celtics, according to Ian Begley of ESPN. There has been a lot of speculation that Anthony is looking to bolt from the franchise after all of the coaching changes and losses. However, he exercised his no-trade clause and made sure to reaffirm his commitment to the team.
One person happy Anthony is staying put is Porzingis. The rookie has heard the rumors Anthony potentially leaving the Knicks, and he told ESPN that he was happy to hear the star was staying put.
"Obviously I wouldn't want to lose him," Porzingis said, via ESPN.com. "He is who he is on our team. He's very special. And we need him to do big things in the future, especially for me. I love playing alongside him, so that would obviously not be something that I want."
The Knicks are not in a good place right now. The team has lost 13 of their last 15 games while falling further and further away from playoff contention. Anthony has been honest about how hard it has been on him with the losses piling up. Now with Kurt Rambis as the head coach, the instability continues and Anthony took time to stress how frustrated he was with the franchise. When asked how he felt about his players getting vocal about their displeasures, Rambis told the media he welcomes it.
"I see frustration. We're all frustrated. We can't accept this," Rambis said, via Newsday.com. "For the organization, for our team, ourselves as individual, the coaching staff. We can't accept losing."
The clock is ticking for the Knicks to turn things around. Anthony will want New York targeting big names this offseason in free agency. The window for his patience could be closing if the Knicks do not make serious upgrades this offseason.