Carmelo Anthony expects to be a Houston Rockets forward next week, according to the New York Daily News, which reports that “Anthony’s camp is cautiously optimistic that a deal will be struck before Monday.” The “potential media circus” that the Anthonys — Carmelo and his wife La La — can expect won’t occur because he gets traded to Houston, but rather if he doesn’t, according to Frank Isola of the News. He writes that Anthony is “trying not to think about the potential media circus that will take place if Carmelo is still with the Knicks.”
Why the circus? Because it’s now common knowledge that the Knicks’ future, Kristaps Porzingis, is ready to be the Knicks present (if, another story, he wants to be a Knick at all). And the Knicks’ past, Carmelo Anthony, isn’t part of the equation. Anthony’s no-trade clause gives him a lot of power and he has apparently made it clear that the Houston Rockets are the only potential landing place for him, a deal that would put him together with James Harden, Chris Paul and former Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni. It would also create a Houston Rockets team with the kind of defense pedigree every NBA scorer dreams of playing against. (Unless Chris Paul can guard two guys at once, which sometimes seems possible.) Next week should be fun around Knicks training camp, depending on who’s there.
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