NBA

Carmelo tells Knicks he’s hitting free-agent market

Carmelo Anthony made his intentions known in October he would opt out of his contract and become a free agent for the first time in his career.

Now he has made it official. Anthony sent formal notification to the Knicks before Monday’s deadline he will exercise his opt-out clause and become a free agent July 1.

According to a league source, the Knicks have received the notification letter, but they’ve known his intentions for some time.

Knicks president Phil Jackson had tried to have him delay free agency a year, but sources said Anthony did not consider it seriously. In fact, according to a league source, Anthony told the Knicks three weeks ago he still planned on opting out and restated it during their meeting nine days ago in Los Angeles. Monday is the deadline for Anthony to give written notification of his intentions.

This doesn’t mean Anthony is leaving, and the Knicks still like their odds of retaining him. The Bulls and Rockets will be his two most ardent pursuers, but neither is under the salary cap and would need to make moves to sign him.

Even if he takes a small pay cut, the Knicks can pay him a lot more than Chicago likely can, even if the Bulls slide under the cap. The Knicks can offer Anthony a maximum five-year, $129 million deal with a salary starting at $23 million per season. Even in a best-case scenario, the Bulls can’t come close to that starting salary and can only offer four years.

“I want to be a free agent,” Anthony told the New York Observer in October. “I think everybody in the NBA dreams to be a free agent at least one time in their career. It’s like you have an evaluation period, you know. It’s like if I’m in the gym and I have all the coaches, all the owners, all the GMs come into the gym and just evaluate everything I do. So yes, I want that experience.”

Anthony wants to be courted — which wasn’t the case during the 2010-11 season. Instead of waiting for free agency, he forced a trade from Denver, concerned about the upcoming lockout.

Toronto Raptors guard Terrence Ross (31) defends New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony during the first half of a game on April 11, 2014.AP

Anthony said his first priority is winning a title, not the money, but he made a revelatory statement after the Knicks’ disappointing 37-45 season, saying “The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”

The Bulls are intrigued by the possibility of having their own Big 3 in Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Anthony. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau reached out to some of Anthony’s former coaches to inquire about him.

The Lakers, Mavericks and Heat figure to pursue Anthony, too. The Lakers and Mavs are under the salary cap, but have shown varied degrees of interest. The Lakers would want Anthony only at a discount and preferably in a package with LeBron James.

Miami’s situation seems also farfetched as even Heat president Pat Riley called forming a Big 4 of Anthony, James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh “a pipe dream.” Riley, however, didn’t completely rule it out.

Jackson still hopes Anthony will take less than the maximum so he can have more flexibility in signing 2015 free agents that could include James, Rajon Rondo, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love, Marc Gasol, Goran Dragic and Tony Parker. In 2016, Kevin Durant becomes available and he is close with new Knicks coach Derek Fisher, his former Oklahoma City teammate.

Anthony said during the All-Star break he would be willing to take less money for more flexibility, but he doesn’t appear ready to take too much below his market value, giving the Knicks an edge.

The Bulls have a lot of maneuvering to do — if they can’t convince the Knicks into a sign-and-trade. They need to amnesty Carlos Boozer and trade Taj Gibson and possibly Mike Dunleavy without getting salary back to make Anthony a competitive offer.

The Bulls also have reportedly had trade talks for small forward Aaron Afflalo of Orlando, which would make their bid for Anthony even more challenging.

Bulls general manager Gar Forman told the Chicago Tribune he may try to trade both of his first-round picks in order to save on cap space for Anthony.

The Knicks would only do a sign-and-trade with Chicago or Houston if they thought they could lose Anthony for no compensation to a team such as Dallas. Houston still needs to shed the contracts of Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik to get comfortably under the cap.

Anthony called his recent summit with Jackson “a great meeting” and added “I like what Phil is doing” in regards to the Fisher hire.

If Jackson were not hired, this opt-out likely would have spelled doom for the Knicks. But Anthony has said nothing but positive things about Jackson since the March hiring, calling it “a power move.”