“Once a Knick, Always a Knick” is a mantra that the New York Knicks have taken to heart. Every night at Madison Square Garden you can see former players littered throughout the crowd taking in the game. There are former players on the coaching staff and in the front office as well, such as Rick Brunson and Allan Houston.
Even on the court, the Knicks have acquired players more than once in recent years. Derrick Rose, Kurt Thomas, Marcus Camby, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Raymond Felton come to mind as players who came to the Knicks, left and eventually came back to town. Could the Knicks be adding another name to that list this offseason?
There has been some chatter about Carmelo Anthony making a return to the Knicks this offseason. Rumblings of a possible return surfaced last offseason as well following the team finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference during the 2020-21 season. However, he ended up heading out west, teaming up with LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers to vie for a championship.
The Lakers fell well short of that goal, as they won fewer games than the Knicks last season. New York went 37-45, but the Lakers were another level of disappointment, going 33-49 and missing the NBA Play-In Tournament as well.
Now a free agent again, could Anthony make his return to the Knicks for a farewell tour? It really all depends on what he is looking for. If Anthony wants to contend for an elusive Larry O’Brien Trophy, the Knicks are likely near the bottom of his preference list. While they are setting themselves up for success in the future, New York isn’t likely to contend this season.
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After turning 38 years old earlier this year, Carmelo Anthony is in the twilight of his career and likely wants to search out a contending team. He showed last season that he can still help a team off the bench with his scoring prowess, so it may even be a little early for a farewell tour to be considered for Anthony.
For the New York Knicks, their roster isn’t constructed in a way to bring on Anthony. They would have to make some more moves to even consider adding the veteran to the mix as their focus this season should be on clearing and giving as many minutes to their young players as possible.
As long as Julius Randle remains on the roster, Anthony isn’t a realistic option. He plays a ton of minutes and anything left behind him needs to go to Obi Toppin. If a trade is made and Toppin has minutes opened up for him, bringing Anthony in as a veteran mentor behind him on the depth chart would make some sense.
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Given how poorly things ended during his original tenure with the Knicks, bringing in him for a farewell tour might be something the organization wants to do as well. Anthony gave everything to the Knicks during his 6.5 seasons with the team and they did very little to help him out.
He made the All-Star team every season and led the league in scoring during the 2013-14 season. Whatever was thrown at him, Anthony took it in stride. It takes a special kind of person to want to play in New York City and Anthony was willing to accept that challenge.
The media would hound him with questions nightly and he would take them all and answer them. There was more access to him than the people calling the shots in the front office and he never wavered.
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Off the court, it would be a sensible move for him as well as his son, Kiyan, who plays high school basketball at Christ The King in Queens. If the New York Knicks can tweak their roster, giving Carmelo Anthony the chance to end his career playing in Madison Square Garden on a higher note than how things were when he left is something both parties would likely sign up for.
