For several weeks, the talk has been there of Carmelo Anthony resting his sore knee. He’s been hesitant, but according to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, that chatter is growing stronger, and now the organization is pushing the idea.
At this point, there’s no logical reason for Melo not to shut it down. The Knicks aren’t winning anything this year whether he plays or not. Even the front office has seemingly accepted this in the wake of Monday night’s Dion Waiters/J.R. Smith/Iman Shumpert trade, which was a pure salary dump from New York’s perspective.
Carmelo Anthony has been resisting idea of resting that sore knee, but Knicks have been encouraging him to sit, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 6, 2015
At this point, there’s no logical reason for Melo not to shut it down. The Knicks aren’t winning anything this year whether he plays or not. Even the front office has seemingly accepted this in the wake of Monday night’s Dion Waiters/J.R. Smith/Iman Shumpert trade, which was a pure salary dump from New York’s perspective.
Not to mention, Anthony is in the first year of a five-year, $123 million deal. The Knicks have a lot of money tied up in him and a lot of incentive to want him to be healthy for the long haul. To keep playing in what is already a lost season would be incredibly shortsighted.
Phil Jackson sold Anthony on his long-term plan, and they’re going to have a truckload of money to spend this summer, when Amar’e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani come off the books. It’s time to embrace the tank.