Is Carmelo Anthony pushing for a buy-out? Should the Knicks oblige?
The New York Knicks summer keeps getting more complicated. We first hear about all these free-agents not wanting to play in NY because of Phil Jackson and the triangle. Now there are reports by Brian Windhorst that the Cavs could potentially be a destination for Melo if he gets bought-out. Jackson has already said that Melo is comfortable with where he is, so I don't think Melo will waive his no trade clause anytime soon. What does that mean for the Knicks?
It comes down to this for the Knicks, they either can wait out Melo, hoping that with struggles he may waive his no-trade clause or buy him out, which means they can use the provision rule and spread the money over a few years. I don't think buying him out is the right way because it hurts the franchise going forward. I would rather pay Melo and let him walk at the end of the year. If the Cavs want him, they need to trade for him thats how the Knicks should play it. Plus you add in the fact that LeBron has come out against the Knicks franchise on a few occasions, we should not be looking to help him. We know he wants Melo in Cleveland to help against the Warriors, so don't make it easy and just give him for free.
The Knicks have to stay firm, there is no point paying Melo and getting rid of him, it gets added to the books for next handful of years and who knows where the franchise will be then, we may need the cap. The people arguing that Melo would hurt the tanking process there is a solution for that, they don't need to play him. They could easily just bench him or cut his minutes. In no way should the Knicks feel that they are not in control. Yes Melo has a no-trade clause and that hurts our chances of trading him but for Melo he gets a year older, one less year to compete for a title and next year with his age and his struggles on defense not many contenders will look to sign him at the amount he is looking for. There is pressure on Melo to look to get out of NY this year.
Knick fans have to realize there is no trade market for Melo. Sure, if he waives his no-trade clause there will be some teams that may consider a trade but the biggest issue is that Melo makes a lot of money and gets 15% more in a trade, so its very hard for another team to match that. It has become obvious that the Knicks should just play the contract out and use the cap space as their reward. Buying him out would be a weak move because you would be giving him what he wants after he would not waive his no-trade clause to help the franchise trade him. To me buying him out is not a solution as it does not help the Knicks in any way.
