Could Carmelo Anthony rocket off to Houston?
According to a league source, the Rockets will make a bid for Anthony this summer, even though they probably won’t have cap space and would have to orchestrate a creative sign-and-trade. The source said Houston asked the Knicks about Anthony before February’s trade deadline.
The Knicks have held discussions with the Rockets about power forward Omer Asik. Even though Rockets president Daryl Morey is the pioneer of advanced statistics and Anthony has never fared well in some efficiency categories, Morey’s old-school instincts believe he could form a terrific Big 3 with Dwight Howard and James Harden. Rockets management also believes Anthony has made advancements in the grit department the past two seasons.
The only way the Rockets can get under the cap is by dealing the expiring contracts of Jeremy Lin, who is entering the poison-pill year of $15 million, and Asik, also scheduled to make $15 million.
But even if the Rockets don’t, a desperate Knicks team could take on Lin or Asik and draft picks if Phil Jackson doesn’t believe in building around Anthony. The Knicks still would be set for 2015’s free agency and Lin wold be a drawing card during a season the Knicks may want to tank and fall into the lottery.
Howard has been most outspoken in encouraging Anthony to consider smaller markets than New York, just like Howard did in eschewing Los Angeles. Plus, Anthony said he’s willing to take “a pay cut’’ — which would be less severe in Houston. There are no state income taxes in Texas.
Howard told USA Today last month the Big Apple is only good for a player’s brand if the team is winning.
“If you don’t win, you’re not going to get all the [off-court] stuff you want anyway,” Howard said. “I saw that last year [in Los Angeles]. I was in the biggest market for the NBA, and we lost, so those [companies] aren’t going to be coming to you for losing.
“When I was in Orlando, a small market, and we were winning. I was very popular with a lot of different deals on the table. So it’s more so about winning, and you’ve got to put yourself in a position to where you’re winning basketball games and you’re having fun doing it. Losing is not fun, and Melo wants to win.”
The Lakers, Clippers and Bulls are other potential destinations for Anthony, who said his “first priority’’ is to remain a Knick if he likes their future blueprint.
In recent days, Mike Woodson’s new theme on why the Knicks’ season spiraled out of control until recently dates to November.
He said J.R. Smith missing the first five games with a marijuana suspension, coupled with Tyson Chandler breaking his leg in the season’s fourth game and missing six weeks, set an awful tone they couldn’t reverse.
The Knicks are now on a five-game winning streak. They are 3 ½ games out of the eighth seed with 17 to play, and find themselves back in the race.
“When we came into the season, expectations were high,’’ Woodson said on his weekly ESPN Radio appearance. “I thought the J.R. situation put us behind early on. I really believe that to this day and then losing Tyson after the third game. We just never was able to develop any kind of chemistry.’’
Asked if he’s been judged unfairly for their 26-40 record, Woodson said, “I won’t air that out. My thing is if there has been any unfairness to Mike Woodson, when the time comes, we’ll sit down and talk, me and Mr. Dolan if that may be the case of whoever is in charge here.’’