According to Carmelo Anthony, the New York Knicks roster "is what it is." Phil Jackson hoped to pull off several moves this offseason in order to begin building a championship-contending team, but only got one solid trade and a free agency signing onto his resume. With the season just around the corner, the chances the Knicks make another roster is slim to none, unless they put together one enticing package.
Of course the biggest offseason move for the Knicks was re-signing Anthony. After that, trading Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton provided a few upgrades for the roster. The Knicks roster still is not something to brag about, but Anthony is trying to embrace what the team has and not dwell on the failed deals.
"For this season, right now, we have what we have," Anthony said, via ESPNNewYork.com. "We're going to deal with that. That was a big discussion with me and Phil -- that was one of my things."
Ideally, the Knicks pull off one more move either before the season begins or at the mid-year deadline. According to Michael Sotto of SheridanHoops.com, there is a chance the Knicks package Amar'e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani into a deal in order to land a star. Both big men eat up the most salary cap space of anyone else on the roster. New York has been trying to trade them all summer. Stoudemire and Bargnani have inflated contracts that do not match their production on the court, but combined could they bring in trade value?
Sotto writes that with both players having expiring deals, the Knicks would ideally like to trade them for a star player in a similar position. It is unlikely that a package deal of both players could land New York someone like Rajon Rondo or even Greg Monroe, but they could find someone worth their time. The Knicks have been linked to both Rondo and Monroe, but will have to wait until free agency in order to get ahold of them. They team does not have enough assets to make the deal happen this season.
New York's best chance at getting a quality player like Rondo or Monroe is to lump Iman Shumpert into a trade package, something the Knicks have gone back and forth on. For now, the roster will stay as is. However, the Knicks could very well be major players at the mid-year deadline as Jackson continues to build towards 2015.
