With a little cap maneuvering, the Rockets can offer Anthony a starting salary around $19 million, about $3.5 million less than his maximum. The Bulls can open up about $17 million, possibly more, depending on how many rotation players they're willing to unload.
And really, Anthony might not be sacrificing much if he leaves. Jackson has said he wants Anthony to take a pay cut to stay, so he won't be making the max in New York either. For the Knicks to gain any significant flexibility, that pay cut has to be at least a few million per year.This is, by the way, the only sane position for Jackson to take. If the Knicks are ever going to contend, they cannot afford to devote 35 percent of the salary cap to a single-minded scorer who doesn't play defense, doesn't elevate his teammates and will soon be moving out of his prime years.Granting Anthony the max would strangle the Knicks' payroll for five years, limiting their ability to sign a bigger, better star (or two). The investment would only get worse over time, with Anthony making nearly $30 million at age 35.
Anthony likely won't age well. He has already logged 31,417 minutes over 11 seasons, and he has never been known for stellar work habits or his conditioning. He hasn't played a full 82-game season since his rookie year. He missed 11 games in 2011-12, 15 games in 2012-13 and five games last season.If the Knicks are faced with paying Anthony the max or losing him, the decision is clear: They should let him walk.
But if Anthony will accept a meaningful pay cut, the Knicks should keep him. For all of his flaws, Anthony is still an elite scorer, and he'd surely become a more selfless player under Jackson and Fisher's tutelage. (Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant both became better team players in the triangle offense.)It's generally easier to recruit star players if you already have one on board, so Anthony has some incidental value. He also loves New York and handles the spotlight well, and those things count for something too.So, what does Anthony truly want? What does he value? In 2011, it was clearly the money and the fame.
Anthony forced the Denver Nuggets to trade him to New York—a deal that cost the Knicks all of their best assets—rather than wait for free agency. Why? Because Anthony wanted to lock in a $65 million extension that he worried would be reduced under a new labor deal.
The trade hamstrung the Knicks' ability to surround Anthony with decent talent, as Anthony himself admitted last December in an interview with NBA TV's Ahmad Rashad, saying, "I knew we took a step backwards as an organization for me to get here. So we had to rebuild."The Knicks are still paying for that ill-conceived trade. Their draft pick this year, 12th overall, now belongs to the Orlando Magic, who obtained it from Denver.The Knicks-Anthony partnership never blossomed the way they all hoped back in 2011, when Knicks owner James L. Dolan hijacked negotiations and forced his front office to make the deal. Since then, the Knicks have posted a ho-hum .547 winning percentage, with a series of forgettable postseasons.No one should be satisfied with the results, and no one could be blamed if they decided to part ways now.
It's time for Anthony to prioritize legacy over riches. His playoff record is dismal. He has been to the conference finals just once, in 2009. If he retired now, he would be remembered as great scorer, nothing more.He will soon have brighter options on the table—in Chicago and Houston, perhaps in Dallas and Los Angeles. He should pursue those options.And the Knicks should let him.
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