Over Caesar salad and filet mignon, Knicks president Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony finally staged their meeting Tuesday night to discuss a potential future together.
According to an eyewitness, Jackson and soon-to-be-free agent Anthony staged a private, two-hour meeting at a Tribeca steakhouse.
Sources told The Post Jackson arrived at American Cut at 8:30 p.m. and waited at the bar. Anthony arrived soon after to meet him, a witness said. The duo was then seen heading through the dining room and into the “ultra-private” Black Room in the back of the restaurant.
The room seats 16, but Jackson and Anthony were alone, the source said, describing it as a place with marble tables and leather chairs. They met for two hours before leaving, the witness said. A source said the duo was in “deep conversation” during their meeting — a good sign.
There were many issues on the table — Anthony’s July 1 free agency, the plan to build a championship team with 2015 cap space and the potential hiring of Steve Kerr as head coach. And of course, pay cuts and triangles.
The Bulls and Rockets are expected to be Anthony’s most ardent suitors. A diner, Josh Wolfe, caught a glimpse of the pair and tweeted a grainy photo. When contacted, Wolfe declined comment. He wrote to the right of the picture: “Rumor overheard Carmelo going to Bulls!”
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However, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday the Bulls may be hard-pressed to get enough under the cap to sign Anthony.
Through a Knicks spokesman, Jackson declined to comment on the pow-wow.
In his end-of-season press conference, Jackson made eyebrow-raising remarks that Anthony would have to take “a pay cut’’ and be “true to his word’’ to remain a Knick so the team would have cap flexibility. Anthony had said during All-Star weekend he would be willing to take a pay cut to give the Knicks more room to sign players with their 2015 cap space.
One scenario has Anthony taking less than the $22.4 million he can get in his first year, then taking a maximum allowable 7.5 percent wage reduction for the 2015-16 season, when the team would need the cap space the most.
The LDV Hospitality restaurant is known as a celebrity haunt, with regulars including Ben Stiller and designer John Varvatos.
Kerr is banking on the Knicks re-signing Anthony. In fact, Kerr’s former coach at Arizona, Lute Olson — who speaks to Kerr regularly — told The Post Wednesday that Kerr, the favorite to become the Knicks’ next head coach, said he thinks Anthony would be perfect for the new triangle offense and doesn’t want to lose him.
“Oh yeah, he likes him,’’ Olson said. “I told Steve it’s critical they hold onto him. I would see Carmelo as being [the] Michael Jordan of that triangle offense. Everything would be run through Carmelo. The great thing about that offense is they can really zero in on one or two players.’’
After meeting Jackson for a 15-minute exit interview after the season in which he said he could “listen to Phil all day,’’ Anthony took off for the Caribbean with his family. He even tweeted an Instagram video of himself on a boat, towing a live shark with the caption: “Sometimes you have to expect the unexpected.’’
Like the Bulls, the Rockets would have to make moves to open room. Anthony has stated emphatically he’s in it to win a title, and the Bulls getting knocked out of the playoffs in the first round by the Wizards in five games doesn’t indicate they are close. The Rockets stayed alive Wednesday in their first-round series against the Trail Blazers, but still trail 3-2.
The Lakers are one club with max cap space, and Mike D’Antoni’s resignation as coach Wednesday night makes it more likely they will inquire about Anthony, but sources have indicated interest isn’t strong. Jackson’s fiancée, Lakers president Jeanie Buss, makes any pursuit of Anthony even more awkward.
The Clippers were once said to be interested in a sign-and-trade involving Blake Griffin, but that was before Griffin’s giant season and before their franchise became a chaotic mess last weekend because of owner Donald Sterling’s racist remarks.
On the surface, Anthony doesn’t seem to have a lot of splendid options.