Carmelo Anthony is the selling point for the New York Knicks. The team re-signed him in free agency in hopes that he would attract big names to the city in the coming years when the team had more salary cap space to work with. As of right now, the Knicks are doing a great job of tanking whether it is intentional or not in order to have money and draft picks ready to rebuild. However, Anthony has not been the same this season struggling with injuries which could hurt New York's pursuit of big names.
Anthony confirmed that there is a good chance he will have to undergo knee surgery which could happen sooner rather than later. The small forward has missed the past six games due to knee issues and he is hope to return to the court when New York takes on the Milwaukee Bucks in London Thursday, but there is a lot of uncertainty regarding his health going forward.
"I'm pretty sure at some point that's going to be my only option," Anthony said, via ESPNNewYork.com. "But until that time I can't sit out. ... I feel like if I can go out there and play some more and continue to play, then I'm going to do that. I'm pretty sure there will come a time where I have to make that decision to sit out and take the proper procedure and get what I need to be done."
As of right now, the Knicks are 5-35 with no signs of improving. A lot of people are calling for Anthony to simply shut it down for a portion of the year something that head coach Derek Fisher has said will be discussed at the right time. As of now, the Knicks are busy trying to sell the farm in order to have a solid offseason. They have traded away JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, Tyson Chandler, Raymond Felton and waived Samuel Dalembert. Now they are trying to deal away Andrea Bargnani, Amar'e Stoudemire and Jose Calderon. If either Stoudemire or Bargnani are unable to get dealt, at least one of them will be waived after the trade deadline according to ESPN's Marc Stein.
The Knicks are planning on chasing plenty of big names this offseason including Brandon Jennings, Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Monroe and Goran Dragic. The health of Anthony will be critical in that effort and the New York must be wise in how they handle his health moving forward.