Carmelo Anthony Would Be Fine With Becoming Knicks' Second-Best Player

The New York Knicks wrapped up their garbage season last night (they lost for the 65th time this season), and this morning, Carmelo Anthony spoke to the media to pump us full of optimistic "next season will be better!" quotes. Armed with $25 million in cap space, a loaded free agent class, and a Top 5 Draft pick, Anthony was bullish about these upcoming months to reporters: "This next season for me and for the organization and for Phil, this is where we earn our money."

Part of Phil Jackson's plan to rebuild the Knicks will undoubtedly involve the signature of a big-ticket free agent this summer. The Knicks will be entrusting Jackson to sell smoke to free agents—something that worked with Anthony last season—but a bare roster and Derek Fisher coaching, it may be difficult to attract superstars to New York. In any case, if Jackson's able to land a max-contract player to start alongside Anthony, that's a proposition that the latter won't have any issue with.

"Oh yeah, I don't have a problem with that," said Anthony when asked about his willingness to defer to another potential star in New York. "If I had a chance to be the second option, I will definitely be the second option. That just take the load off of me. For me, I don't have to go out there and do it every night. So I think everybody, all star players, we want that light, we want to be the focal point of our team, of our organization."

Anthony added that another star (obviously) helps the entire team, not just him: "But if we get somebody to come in and help us out, that's a load off of us. That's helpful to me, that's helpful to the other star that's coming in, that's helpful to the whole team."

Will 24-year-old Greg Monroe be the man who'll shoulder the scoring burden as Anthony ages into his 30s? Perhaps, according to early reports. Anthony's quotes resemble the tone of LeBron James and his recent free agent maneuvers. Both superstars from the 2003 draft class are 30-years-old. Anthony's been injured year-after-year in New York. The guy needs help.

After putting over 40,000 minutes on his body, LeBron's gone out of his way to play with younger, talented scorers who he can lean on night-in and night-out and protect himself from the wear and tear of an 82-game regular season. Gotta be fresh for the playoffs, man. It's exactly why LeBron left Dywane Wade's knees behind in Miami for Kyrie Irving's sensational scoring abilities.

This offseason, Anthony will be hoping to find his own running mate. Who should it be?

1.

The New York Knicks wrapped up their garbage season last night (they lost for the 65th time this season), and this morning, Carmelo Anthony spoke to the media to pump us full of optimistic "next season will be better!" quotes. Armed with $25 million in cap space, a loaded free agent class, and a Top 5 Draft pick, Anthony was bullish about these upcoming months to reporters: "This next season for me and for the organization and for Phil, this is where we earn our money."

Part of Phil Jackson's plan to rebuild the Knicks will undoubtedly involve the signature of a big-ticket free agent this summer. The Knicks will be entrusting Jackson to sell smoke to free agents—something that worked with Anthony last season—but a bare roster and Derek Fisher coaching, it may be difficult to attract superstars to New York. In any case, if Jackson's able to land a max-contract player to start alongside Anthony, that's a proposition that the latter won't have any issue with.

"Oh yeah, I don't have a problem with that," said Anthony when asked about his willingness to defer to another potential star in New York. "If I had a chance to be the second option, I will definitely be the second option. That just take the load off of me. For me, I don't have to go out there and do it every night. So I think everybody, all star players, we want that light, we want to be the focal point of our team, of our organization."

Anthony added that another star (obviously) helps the entire team, not just him: "But if we get somebody to come in and help us out, that's a load off of us. That's helpful to me, that's helpful to the other star that's coming in, that's helpful to the whole team."

Will 24-year-old Greg Monroe be the man who'll shoulder the scoring burden as Anthony ages into his 30s? Perhaps, according to early reports. Anthony's quotes resemble the tone of LeBron James and his recent free agent maneuvers. Both superstars from the 2003 draft class are 30-years-old. Anthony's been injured year-after-year in New York. The guy needs help.

After putting over 40,000 minutes on his body, LeBron's gone out of his way to play with younger, talented scorers who he can lean on night-in and night-out and protect himself from the wear and tear of an 82-game regular season. Gotta be fresh for the playoffs, man. It's exactly why LeBron left Dywane Wade's knees behind in Miami for Kyrie Irving's sensational scoring abilities.

This offseason, Anthony will be hoping to find his own running mate. Who should it be?

2.

3.

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[via ESPN New York]