Carmelo Anthony will remain with the New York Knicks for the long-term. After plenty of speculation and free agency tours, the guard placed his trust in team president Phil Jackson to right the ship over the next few years. Even with Anthony returning, the current New York roster is grim for 2104. So what moves is Jackson still eyeing during free agency, this year and beyond?
Anthony signed just short of a max contract with the Knicks worth $122 million but four years instead of five. This gives the Knicks a brief amount of cap flexibility, something they desperately need. Jackson confirmed Anthony taking a smaller contract than the $129 million over five years that he could have earned, but the one year difference does not help as much as fans were hoping. With the space left, what moves can the Knicks afford to make?
"I want to be fiscally responsible,'' Jackson said, via the New York Post. "We've been a taxpayer team for some time and we want to eliminate that. We're not going to foolishly throw money away because it's available to us. We want to make appropriate moves that bring our team forward. We have a roster that we can't add a whole lot of players.''
The post reports that the Knicks could still be seeking trades of either Amar'e Stoudemire or Andrea Bargnani in the near future. So far, every deal has been shot down or would force the Knicks to include Iman Shumpert, something Jackson is not ready to commit to just yet. Jackson is not looking to spend any more money on big-named players. If nothing can be acquired via a trade, the team will sit tight until 2015 when their salary cap gets a lot lighter.
Both Bargnani and Stoudemire come off the books next season, meaning their $11.5 million and $23.4 million salaries are gone. With that, Jackson is expected to target Marc Gasol as their top target. After trading away Tyson Chandler, the Knicks will need that center presence. If Cleveland fails to make a trade for Kevin Love he will be a target. Then when 2016 comes, Derek Fisher will use his friendship with Kevin Durant to bring the star to New York. Knicks fans are going to have to be patient, just like Anthony, because this season will be tough for the team.
