Boeheim Hints Carmelo Should Ditch The Knicks
NEW YORK (CBSMiami) – New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony can opt-out of his contract at the end of the current season and if he listens to his collegiate coach, he should do that and leave the Knicks in the rear-view mirror.
"What I'd tell him is what I would tell any NBA great player. If you're a great player in the NBA, for you to be recognized as a great player, you have to win a championship," Boeheim said. "It's as simple as that. And I think you have to put yourself in the best position possible to win a championship."
Boeheim mentioned LeBron James and the Heat and continued, "I think you have to be in a place to have a chance to win championships. I think Carmelo loves New York, but I would tell him, 'Let's try to get some place where you can win this thing.'"
While Boeheim doesn't say leave New York, the Knicks don't have the cap space to attract any big name stars to play alongside Carmelo until 2015 at the earliest due to cap problems and luxury tax issues.
Melo would be due over $20 million in the first year of a new contract, which under the current labor deal makes surrounding him with other high-priced talent difficult. In addition, Melo hasn't shown an ability to elevate his teammates like LeBron or Kevin Durant.
Still, he's a scoring machine and if he's willing to take a little bit less money to go to a contender, he may be able to rewrite his legacy. The only question is what contending team has the cap space and desire to add Melo to the lineup?