Carmelo Anthony‘s gambit to get what he wanted worked once before, when he was able to force a trade to the New York Knicks from the Denver Nuggets in 2011. Anthony must have figured it was worth another shot.
Soon after the trade that sent Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets, Anthony told friends he wanted the Knicks to “make a play” for Rajon Rondo, the New York Post reports. Assuming the Celtics were totally dismantling their team, Anthony apparently assumed Rondo would be available cheaply, even to an Atlantic Division foe.
“Anthony believes Rondo would be a perfect piece and would be super motivated in New York to attempt to knock off Garnett and Pierce,” the Post’s Marc Berman writes.
Of course, that is an unrealistic dream by Anthony. The Knicks are well over the luxury tax line even before re-signing free agents Pablo Prigioni and J.R. Smith, as they are expected to do once the moratorium period is lifted, and are extremely limited in what additions they can make in the coming year. They were not even able to retain forward Chris Copeland, who signed with the Indiana Pacers.
As much as Celtics fans would dread seeing Garnett, Pierce and Rondo all playing in New York next season, this is at least one scenario they don’t have to worry about too much.
