Despite Carmelo Wanting to Stay, Knicks Future Still in a Bind

With the horrible season the team is having, talks of trades regarding the New York Knicks didn't exempt anybody on the team. Even Carmelo Anthony, the franchise's prized star, was involved in trade rumors. Anthony is planning to opt out of his contract by the end of the season and this meant that the team could lose him for zero return. As such, talks of trades were only logical.

However, Anthony recently expressed his desire to stay with the team. In a story by Marc Berman of the New York Post, the 30-year old forward said:

"I don’t want to be traded. I came to New York, I said before I wanted to retire here. I said it, meant it. That’s how I feel. I still feel strongly about that. That’s why at the end of the season, everything has to be laid out — something that we can grow with and build on."

Despite his desire to stay, the future of the team is still in question. Anthony wants to compete but with the current salary situation of the team, making an improvement is going to be a very tough challenge as the Knicks are already locked to pay $91 million for next season. Unless the Knicks front office can conjure a miracle, the team is going to be stuck in a bad shape for at least one more season.

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Did the Knicks Upgrade Over the Summer?

After a successful regular season wherein they were able to have the second-best record in the eastern conference, the New York Knicks faltered in the playoffs against a tougher opposition in the form of the defensive Indiana Pacers. The Knicks offense who featured the year's scoring champ were stifled. Their defense wasn't any better. To put it bluntly, the team still needed a lot of work if they are to become legitimate contenders for an NBA title.

In a tougher eastern conference

This offseason saw several new players added to the Knicks while some  players from last season were traded away or left during the free agency period. The team has been active, to say the least. However, all the transactions that the team have made still doesn't put them on the upper echelon of the league, or even the eastern conference for that matter. Even if they did improve, the other teams in the east has upgraded by leaps and bounds over what the Knicks have done so far.

Knicks' summer acquisitions

One of the significant transactions of the Knicks this summer is the trade for Andrea Bargniani that sent away Steve Novak. The presumption is that Bargnani, with his better skill sets, will provide the Knicks with another option in the offensive end. However, with several players on the Knicks that constantly handles the ball to be effective, it is very likely that his role will be relegated to what Novak used to do. The fact that his field goal percentages from last season  declined from the previous is a cause for more concern.

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