The marriage between Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks, now in it's sixth year, is headed for divorce. You know it. I know it. The whole world knows it. But Anthony continues to maintain he wants to stick it out in New York—as long as the Knicks and team president Phil Jackson still want him around.
Melo can dance around the subject all he wants with the media on a daily basis but the writing has been on the wall for weeks now. We all know Jackson deep down would prefer the 32-year-old forward take his talents elsewhere. The only problem is Jackson is the one who gave Anthony one of only three no-trade clauses in the league back in 2014 when he wined and dined Anthony into re-signing with the Knicks.
Trading Carmelo before the Feb. 21 deadline might require a miracle from the Young Pope himself considering how much money Anthony is still owed, his aging body, and the fact that he has a 15 percent trade kicker in his contract. That didn't stop us from proposing a few juicy ones that we acknowledge have basically no shot at every happening. But a pair of Knicks fans can dream, right? It's all we can do to keep from crying.
So instead of calling them legitimate proposals, we'll refer to these ESPN Trade Machine approved deals as "alternative offers" for Carmelo Anthony's imminent departure from New York. Enjoy.