Carmelo Anthony started this past season off struggling to find a place for himself in the NBA, and he finished as an important part of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Popular wisdom up to this point has been that he would re-sign with the organization heading into next year, but that may not in fact be the case.
According to Jason Quick of The Athletic, Anthony will only re-sign with the Blazers on one condition: if he cannot secure a better offer with more guaranteed playing time elsewhere.
“The only way I can see Carmelo Anthony returning to Portland is if he has some kind of revelation that he is now a role player,” he said. “And I can’t imagine that happening.”
All in all, the 36-year-old seemingly hopes to land somewhere where he can make a significant impact.
“In the meantime, I think Anthony searches for another team where he can play big minutes,” Quick continued.
“If there are no suitors, he knows he can trust his experience with Olshey and the Blazers and listen to their pitch.”
Interestingly enough, when the Blazers got eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs, Anthony expressed a lot of interest in re-signing with the team.
“I pray that it could be Portland,” he said at the time.
“Honestly, thank God I found a home in Portland. I got comfortable with the organization. I got comfortable with the guys on the team. They got comfortable with me.
“At this point in my career, I do think that that’s the best fit for me, the best situation,” he continued.
“Especially having this experience now and kind of just getting my feet wet, coming in and being who I am and staying true to myself. I really hope that it can be Portland at the end of the day where we give ourselves a chance to keep this team together, get guys healthy and get another run at it.”
Whoever he ends up playing for, Anthony seems to be taking next season very seriously. He has been working out like crazy and appears to be in the best shape he has been in over the past few years.
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How that will translate onto the basketball court remains to be seen, though.
There have been a lot of rumors of him potentially joining the New York Knicks this offseason if Leon Rose opts to also make a big trade for Chris Paul, but that is not set in stone yet.
The Knicks were said to be interested in acquiring Anthony last year if they had been able to sign either Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving, but obviously both players opted to join the Brooklyn Nets instead. That scuttled the plan to ink Anthony.
One way or another, it looks like Anthony will be playing somewhere next year. And based on how things have gone for him over the past few years, he is no doubt thankful for that.
Related: Is Derrick Rose To The Lakers A Done Deal?
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
