Two Cavs believe Carmelo Anthony wants to stay with Knicks

J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert, two guards for the Cleveland Cavaliers that they acquired in a trade with the New York Knicks, don’t believe Carmelo Anthony wants to be traded.

According to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert, who played for the New York Knicks before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, believe Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony will stay in the Mecca despite Jackson’s efforts to trade him.

In what may be a never-ending New York Knicks saga, Anthony is at odds with president of basketball operations Phil Jackson. Jackson, whose infamy in basketball circles starts with the 11 rings he’s won coaching Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, has been critical of Anthony’s isolation-heavy style of play and his team’s resistance to the triangle offense.

He recently made headlines that changed the status of a Carmelo trade from speculation and rumor to a near-certainty, saying that if Anthony wants to be on a winning ball-club and one that’s in championship contention, he may be “better off” being traded to a contender.

All this after spending $49.5 million to bring Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Courtney Lee to the Big Apple, money expenditures that would shame even the Portland Trail Blazers.

Now, after devaluing Anthony and tainting his trade value with his comments, Jackson has to try to get fair trade value for Anthony in a trade that Anthony would need to co-sign thanks to his contract’s “no-trade” clause. A “no-trade” clause, as can be expected, necessitates a player’s agreement to a trade for a move to happen.

That move is unlikely to happen as Anthony’s two approved trade destinations are the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Cavs would have to give up a valued piece of their core to acquire Anthony. The Clippers may be falling apart at the seams with news that Chris Paul and the San Antonio Spurs have mutual interest.

To Smith and Shumpert, Anthony staying is about more than the improbability of being traded to one of his preferred destinations.

Via Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News:

"“Sometimes you feel like it’s just unfinished business, and I feel like that’s what it is with Melo,” said Cavs guard Iman Shumpert. “He don’t want to leave on that note.”"

"“He does want to stay in New York. He made the effort to get to New York,” Smith said. “Granted, it hasn’t gone as well as he hoped it would. But I’m sure that’s where he wants to be.”"

Oh, and about Jackson’s publicly stating he’s willing to trade Anthony:

"“I don’t think (Jackson) should’ve been so vocal about (wanting to trade Anthony),” Shumpert said. “That’s just me. I think a lot of stuff is better if everybody just assumes what’s going on and they don’t really know what’s going on. I didn’t like that it was publicized, but what am I going to do? He said some stuff about me too."

For those that may have missed Charley Rosen’s ESPN article, this is what Jackson had to say about Smith and Shumpert following their trade:

"“J.R. had been exhibiting some delinquent behavior and had gotten into the habit of coming late to team meetings, or missing them altogether,” Jackson says. “Also, Shump and Tim [Hardaway Jr.] were regressing, so I decided to meet with them separately and try to find out what, if anything, was bothering them.”"

"“Smith was first on the list. “We talked about his statement to the press that our shooting guard depth was going to be the team’s asset, but so far it hadn’t worked out that way,” Jackson says. “He was supposed to carry the scoring load for the second unit and he wasn’t doing the job. I also said that because of his unacceptable behavior, he had two strikes against him with this team. He didn’t really respond. He’s a very sensitive guy, with his big doe eyes. He looked like he was going to tear up. But he finally responded that he was going through some issues with his gal.”"

"“I asked Fish what players were the biggest distractions. He said that although J.R. never talked back to him, he always walked around under a dark cloud. Derek was worried that negative energy was contagious.”"

"“Shumpert was next in line. “After he suffered a hip injury in Dallas, his game went rapidly downhill. Did he have any other issues to explain his decline? He said, ‘No. I don’t know what has gone wrong with my game.’ As with J. R., nothing got resolved.”"

"“I like Shump,” says Jackson, “but he has a very loud, big personality. It was difficult for most of the other guys to deal with, especially if things don’t go well for him or the team.”"

In sum, Jackson may mean well but it’s clear that he’s very open about conversations others would like to remain private. He’s a lot like that friend you can’t tell anything not because they can’t keep it to themselves but because they’ll bring it up in public forums and make the situation awkward and embarrassing.

It’s like telling your friend that you have interest in someone than your friend telling that someone all about that interest but not just in front of them, in front of their friends too.

The way the Knicks look on-the-court make it look like Jackson has lost his touch but more than anything, Jackson has a lack of tact.

Anthony, who has stuck out the tough times in New York, deserves more respect from Jackson in general. As one of the popular players and a perennial All-Star, he deserves more respect from Jackson who is a constant, though not always a constructive, critic of Anthony’s game. Deploring Anthony’s love of iso-ball when he coached Kobe Bryant for years is laughable.

As is pretty much any conjecture Jackson makes about the Knicks to this point.

In my opinion, Anthony should stick out the rest of his contract. Both of their contracts expire in the 2019 offseason and, if Phil Jackson is re-signed as the president of basketball operations for the New York Knicks, Anthony shouldn’t hesitate to call up LeBron James, who is also scheduled to be a free agent in the 2019, and try to get the Banana Boat together somewhere warm.

Anthony loves New York and he’s been both determined to stay and dedicated to the franchise. He’s made it seven years with the Knicks already, going through major highs and lows along that time. I don’t think he’ll let Jackson force him out, it doesn’t seem to be the type of man he is.

Anthony, above all else, seems like a loyalist. Like a fighter.

As for the idea of the Cavs trading for Anthony, I’d like for him to wind up on the Cavs but I wouldn’t want to mess up the current team chemistry by trading away major pieces of the rotation for one player.

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