Carmelo Anthony doesn’t sound like a guy gung-ho about uprooting his family and bolting New York, according to a new video posted Monday.
Anthony has talked extensively about making his free-agency decision based on winning a title, but in an interview with Vice Sports, he said family factors in, too.
Anthony is married to actress La La Vasquez, and they have a 7-year-old son, Kiyan.
“The average person sees the opportunity to say, ‘Melo should go here, Melo should go there, he should do this, I think he should do that,’ ” Anthony said in the interview taped June 3. “They don’t take in consideration the family aspect of it. Where are you going to be living at? Do you want your kids to grow up in that place or that city? Do I want to stay the rest of my career in that situation and city? All that stuff comes into play.”
Anthony’s agent, Leon Rose, also addressed Anthony’s free agency Monday. Rose confirmed Anthony sent written notification to the Knicks that he has opted out of the final year of his contract, but gave hope to New York fans, indicating the club may still be the favorites.
“Carmelo loves being a Knick, he loves the city and the fans. At this stage of his career, he just wants to explore his options,” Rose said in the statement.
Anthony will become a free agent July 1, and the Bulls and Rockets will be his two most ardent suitors. Both clubs, however, are over the salary cap and would have to make multiple moves to clear the room to offer Anthony a competitive salary. The Lakers and Mavericks are under the cap, but indications are they don’t want to give Melo the maximum salary. If the Miami “Big 4” scenario plays out, Anthony would have to take $70 million less than the Knicks’ max.
“My son goes to school and loves it here,” Anthony said in the interview. “To take him out and take him somewhere else, he has to learn that system all over again. He has to get new friends. I know how hard it was for me when I moved from New York to Baltimore at a young age, having to work to make friends and fit in and try to figure out the culture in that area. As far as basketball goes, it’s hard to just say, ‘OK, I’m going to go there.’ Everybody is affected by it.”
Anthony also said it’s not only about next season, when the Knicks don’t appear to be set up to contend for a title after posting a 37-45 record last season. There’s been speculation he doesn’t want to waste a season before the Knicks reload via 2015 free agency, but he put the kibosh on that notion.
“The average person is looking at it next year — like it’s one year, you can win a championship if you go here,” Anthony said. “We’re looking at the big picture. You’re looking at the next six years of your career.”
Besides the 2015 free-agent class, Knicks president Phil Jackson also is looking at 2016, when Kevin Durant, who is close with new coach Derek Fisher, will be a free agent.
The Bulls’ best chance of wooing Anthony is to engage the Knicks in sign-and-trade talks, but Jackson may not be interested unless he feels he would lose Anthony to another team under the cap — say Dallas — and not receive compensation.
If the Bulls slice the roster to get under the cap, Taj Gibson likely would be one of the players the Bulls would have to trade. Bulls center Joakim Noah reportedly would be against signing Anthony if it means losing Gibson, their rugged rebounder and Sixth Man of the Year runner-up.
Anthony still may look to sign for close to the maximum contract, putting the Knicks in good position with Jackson capable of offering a five-year, $129 million pact that starts at $22.5 million annually. For the Bulls to get to $22.5 million, they’d have to amnesty Carlos Boozer and trade Mike Dunleavy and Gibson, trade their two first-round picks and would be unable to sign their European draft prospect Nikola Mirotic.
The Bulls conceivably could have their foursome of Derrick Rose, Noah, Anthony and Jimmy Butler and complemented by one player signed with their $2.7 million room exception and the rest minimum-contract players. Depth won’t be their strong point, which may be why their backup plan is trading for Arron Afflalo instead of going full bore on Anthony.
Meanwhile, Jackson wants Anthony take less than the $22.5 million starting salary to give the Knicks more flexibility for the 2015/2016 free-agency pool. Anthony is agreeable to taking less money, but indications are he wants close to his market value.
With Jackson exploring ways to trade Iman Shumpert to land a late first-round pick, Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis has been mentioned as a potential target in addition to North Carolina shooting guard P.J. Hairston. “[Ennis is] very mature, very good playmaker,’’ one NBA general manager said. “He gets people the ball in the right spots. Size could be an issue and he’s not super-athletic.’’