Carmelo Anthony is frustrated. He should be. New York’s defense has gotten nearly three points per 100 possessions worse compared to last season (dropping it to bottom five in the league), plus the team that destroyed opponents from the three point line last season is taking four fewer a game and hitting a slightly lower percentage of them. Throw in some injuries and you get 21-36.
Because Anthony has said he will opt out of his contract this summer how frustrated he is has become a running storyline in New York. Every media session reporters take his temperature to see just how frustrated he is at that moment. Every day he gives some variant of the answer “I want to stay a Knick but I want to see a plan from them on how we become a contender, however I’m not focusing on any of that until the season ends.”
And every day those words get parsed. It’s a fun roller coaster for Knicks fans… okay, it’s about as much fun as midtown traffic at 5:15 p.m.
Thursday at shootaround in Miami Anthony sounded pretty frustrated and added that New York’s rough season will factor into his decision this summer. Shocking. So Carmelo Anthony is going to use his past experiences as a basis to decide his future actions? That is crazy talk.
Here is what Anthony said, via Newsday.
“A lot of things are going to be thought about when that time comes,” Anthony said before the Knicks played the Heat Thursday. “Off the court, on the court, just a lot of things are going to have to be put all on the table…
“I don’t think about it like that, that I want to make the playoffs before I make that decision,” Anthony said. “That decision is going to happen regardless. That time is going to come. Me making the playoffs is something that I want to do, something that I never experienced before, not making the playoffs. That’s a different motivation.
First off, New York isn’t making the playoffs. Well, unless you think the Knicks can go 17-8 the rest of the way. That’s likely what it will take to make the playoffs. Atlanta is currently the eight seed in the East and on pace to win 37 games, to pass them the Knicks will need at least 38 wins. Which means winning better than two out of every three remaining games. Good luck with that.
Anthony has some tough decisions to make. He is going to sit down this summer with his agents at CAA, his wife, and they are going to talk about options. What are the Knicks plans? Will he take less money to help the Knicks rebuild? If he’s taking less is going to a team closer to contention a better option? Where does he really want to live? It all factors in.
Until then he’ll just be frustrated. And Knicks fans get to ride that roller coaster.
