The worst kept secret since In-n-Out Burger’s “secret menu” has finally played itself out:
Carmelo Anthony is out for the rest of the season and will have knee surgery, team president Phil Jackson announced at a press conference Wednesday. ‘Melo will have patellar tendon debridement, which means he be out four-to-six months.ill have him back next season.
The good news is that will have him back next season. The bad news? That’s the same surgery that Dwyane Wade and Danny Granger had, and neither was the same player after it.
Everyone around the league (and as discussed on this site multiple times) knew Anthony would have shut it down six weeks ago if it were not for the All-Star Game being in New York, and him wanting to play host. He did that. He also showed how much his knee bothered him, shooting 6-of-20 in a game where nobody bothers to guard you.
Here are a few quotes from the press conference:
Phil said surgery is "corrective'' and was able to play on it. "We felt comfortable with him playing until All-Star Game.''
— Marc Berman (@NYPost_Berman) February 18, 2015
“It wasn’t something that was sudden from summer activity.” — @carmeloanthony on his knee issue.
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 18, 2015
"This is a necessary step for him to take." -- @derekfisher on Melo's decision to have surgery. pic.twitter.com/Lei1ePcjkv
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 18, 2015
The question is what kind of team will he come back to next fall. The Knicks will go big game hunting in free agency, but Marc Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge are unlikely to leave their current teams. Goran Dragic is a possibility, but now you’re bringing in a shoot-first point guard to the triangle, which has never been a great fit. More than that, they just need better role players across the board.
Phil Jackson deserves more time to change things at Madison Square Garden, but he has a massive amount of work to do.