The New York Knicks are about to enter into arguably the most important season in recent franchise history and as Mike Woodson prepares for the 2013-14 slate, all fans can talk about is next summer and whether Carmelo Anthony will leave for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Despite all the fears of fans that Melo will bolt next summer, all signs so far point to him staying put and trying to cement himself as a NY legend by winning a championship. One reason that he is likely to stay are the new reports that say the Knicks are prepared to let him rebuild the roster in 2015, much like Dwyane Wade did back with the Miami Heat when they got LeBron James and Chris Bosh. The Knicks purposefully signed players to contract to free up space heading into the 2015 summer and reports from Yahoo Sports say that the team is prepared to let Anthony build it the way he wants.
The Miami Heat have won two straight championships and have been to three straight finals since Wade was able to convince his friends to come play and in two years Anthony will be one the elder statesmen of the league and there will a prime crop of players who will possibly be free agents, including Zach Randolph, Kenneth Faried, Andrew Bynum, DeAndre Jordan, Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge and Rajon Rondo. Of course LeBron could also be a free agent, but that is a pipe dream for the all NY fans out there who thinks he is going to come to MSG.
The Knicks least last season in the Eastern conference playoffs to the Pacers and if the team doesn't make it to at least the conference finals this year, there could be some big changes ahead and that could spur what Anthony decides to do in the future. The team wants to keep Melo and it is in the franchise's best interest and that is likely why they will let him build the roster. If Anthony retires without bringing a title home to NY, the whole era may be looked at as a failure and that is something he does not want to happen.
While a number of these players may be out of reach, it isn't crazy to think that Anthony could convince one or possibly two of them to sign and try to win a championship. Obviously Melo will have to watch out for the Miami Heat rebuilding their roster as well, but with all those names out there, at least one could be New York bound. Rondo is coming back from serious surgery now, but in two years he could be playing at a high level again and after averaging 13.7 PPG, 11.1 APG with nearly six rebounds, he will be a prime option to work with Melo and he has the finals experience that the Knicks could use.
Portland Trail Blazers star LaMarcus Aldridge has been mentioned in trade talks quite a bit this season and if he makes it through to the end of his contract, New York could be a place for him to shine, especially after have averaged nearly a double-double last season with over 21 points per game and nine rebounds. Aldridge is young and by 2015 he will be 29 and still in his prime. Marc Gasol will be older at 30 but as an unrestricted free agent he fits exactly what the Knicks want to be and after averaging 14 points and eight rebounds while taking the Grizzlies to the West finals, buy 2015 he likely will be a top two center in the league and by then Tyson Chandler may be out of town anyway. The other players all have something to add and that could equal a championship for the franchise.
