Carmelo Anthony reportedly ‘expressed displeasure’ with Knicks’ draft to Tim Hardaway Jr.

A seemingly conflicting report in the New York Post holds that Anthony supported the Knicks’ first pick, of Latvian project Kristaps Porzingis, but that report could be wrong. It’s possible that Anthony’s “displeasure” is with the rest of the Knicks’ draft — if it’s not merely frustration with a friend being traded away — but the most objectionable move the Knicks made was unquestionably selecting Porzingis, who will need time to develop into a top-flight NBA player.

And while professional shouter Stephen A. Smith telling a New York radio show that Anthony was “betrayed and hoodwinked” by Jackson sounds like a typical Smith exaggeration, there seems to be a lot of smoke here.

By drafting a player who might take two or three years to realize his immense potential and swapping an established player for a rookie, the Knicks appeared on Thursday to be thinking about building for the far future rather than winning immediately — a rare state for a franchise that has taken big swings and struck out repeatedly in recent years.

Anthony, who re-signed with New York last summer after the newly-hired Jackson flirted with not bringing him back, has struggled to make the Knicks a consistent success after forging his way to the Big Apple. A lack of relief in sight probably isn’t precisely what he wants. Anthony did not respond to the reports directly, but did tweet a message of support to Hardaway.