Ian Begley, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Carmelo Anthony: Derrick Rose trade makes Knicks more attractive in free agency

Carmelo Anthony thinks the Derrick Rose trade makes his New York Knicks an attractive destination in free agency.

"I feel like we have a great shot at acquiring free agents this summer," Anthony said at the unveiling of the USA Basketball roster in Harlem on Monday.

"It’s going to take work, because all of the teams are in the same situation, the same boat, but like I said, the Derrick Rose piece was a great first step. ... As far as him being healthy and me being healthy coming back into this season, Kristaps (Porzingis) having a year under his belt, I think it does make (New York) a destination spot for a lot of people to see the pieces that we have to try to create something."

Does that mean the Knicks have enough to land free agent Kevin Durant? That remains to be seen.

Anthony has spent the past few days with Durant in New York City playing the role of recruiter for the Knicks. He hasn’t been selling Durant on the virtues of the Knicks for the entire time, but the idea of playing in New York has certainly come up in conversation.

"Those conversations do come up, but it's not something that I'm constantly on him, throwing at him," said Anthony, who is a close friend of Durant’s. "Because I was in that situation before. And it’s a lot of things that's going through his mind."

Durant is three days away from the start of a free-agency period in which he's the biggest name on the board. So, naturally, many questions to the Thunder star on Monday centered around his interest in the Knicks.

Durant understandably didn’t want to discuss his pending free agency. He wouldn’t say whether he planned to meet with the Knicks (sources say that no meeting had been scheduled as of the beginning of the week, but the club is optimistic it will get a chance to make its case to Durant).

Durant also said he hadn’t considered if the Rose acquisition made the Knicks a better destination for free agents. But he did offer his thoughts, in a more general sense, on the Knicks' roster.

"They obviously have a good team now with D-Rose, Melo and Porzingis," Durant said in response to a question about Rose's making the Knicks a draw in free agency. He stopped short of saying that he’d meet with the Knicks, though.

"I am going to talk to my team and we will figure things out, but right now it is kind of hard to say."

Anthony didn’t want to handicap the Knicks’ chances to land Durant in free agency (people around the league believe New York faces long odds against Oklahoma City, Golden State and San Antonio, among others). But he did say Durant wanted to put himself in position to win, which theoretically puts New York, which went 32-50 last season, at a disadvantage.

"Whatever situation he feels he can win right away, I think he’ll make that decision," he said. "It’s a basketball decision. For him, it’s basketball."

Independent of Durant's signing -- or not signing -- with New York, Anthony said he has a renewed confidence in the direction of the Knicks.

The 32-year-old star had expressed frustration at the end of last season about what he perceived as a lack of a sense of urgency from the front office’s. It seemed that he was concerned that the club was looking to undergo a long-term rebuild rather than win in the near future. The Rose trade showed Anthony that the Knicks are committed to winning next season.

"I like that a lot. I’m reinvigorated," he said, agreeing with a term team president Phil Jackson used last week to describe his spirits. "I feel a little bit more confident now that we actually made that move, made that decision. It shows me they are looking at now, and not the future just yet. The time is now. We have to capitalize on what we have right now. Of course the front office also has to look at the big picture, but the time is now."

^ Back to Top ^