Carmelo Anthony still wants to stay in New York right now, but that could change

Carmelo Anthony has been wavering on his commitment to stay in New York and could push for a buyout from his current Knicks contract, according to ESPN. Right now, Anthony’s top preference would be to remain in New York, where his 10-year-old son, Kiyan, lives.

However, Anthony’s camp has reached out to the Knicks about a buyout to establish his options. If Anthony were to be bought out, he would be a favorite to join the Cleveland Cavaliers and his close friend, LeBron James.

The Knicks are not currently inclined to buy out Anthony, per ESPN. Anthony has two years left on his contract worth almost $55 million. Another option would be Anthony being traded to the Washington Wizards, a team that is near New York and could be interested in dealing for him. Because Anthony has a no-trade clause, though, he would have to sign off on any such trade.

At this point, while New York is prepared to move Anthony, it would rather do so through a trade than a buyout or by using the stretch provision, which would spread out Anthony’s cap hit over several seasons to lessen the impact. Clearly, a trade would be the most financially viable option for New York, which is why they prefer it. The other options are preferable for Anthony, who would then gain autonomy in free agency to decide which team he wanted to join. He would still be making millions from the Knicks, so he could also sign at the minimum or at a cheap price without concern.

“The most important thing with that is just to stay close to Kiyan,” Anthony’s wife, La La, said during the interview on The Wendy Williams Show. “That’s my priority, that’s his priority. So wherever he ends up, of course we want him to be happy.”

Every day, it seems increasingly likely that Anthony will have a new home sooner than later. Still, nobody would be that surprised if he just ended up playing the year out in New York again for the 2017-18 season, despite nobody really being happy with it.