Knicks Rumors: Trade Buzz Surrounding Carmelo Anthony and More

Barring a miracle, the New York Knicks are about to finish their 13th losing regular season in their last 16 years. During that span, the Knicks have won just one playoff series.

Obviously the status quo is not working, and the Knicks need to rebuild (again) in hopes of injecting some life (again) back into New York City basketball.

New York tried to pair Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose together this season, but that has not worked out, as the team sits with 23 wins and 34 losses at the All-Star break.

It's likely one (or both) could be gone by the time the Knicks suit up for the 2017-18 season, but will either of them leave town before Thursday's trade deadline?

Here's the latest information on both.

Carmelo Anthony

Zach Lowe of ESPN reported that the Los Angeles Clippers would still love to land Carmelo Anthony, but it doesn't seem likely: "The Clippers are still kicking the tires on everything, including their pipe-dream of snaring Carmelo Anthony from the Kazoos without giving up any of their core four guys."

Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical and Marc Berman of the New York Post also reported that it's unlikely that Melo goes anywhere this week.

Fred Kerber of the New York Post also weighed in on Tuesday:

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The obvious teams kicking the tires on Anthony are the Clippers, who don’t want to give up anybody really good, the Cavaliers, who don’t want to give up anybody really good and the Celtics, who apparently don’t want to give up anybody period for the Knicks forward.

Anthony, over the weekend at the All-Star Game, admitted he thinks about a possible move a lot but also said he doesn’t see a scenario that makes sense for him or the Knicks.

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Knicks President of Basketball Operations Phil Jackson has made his feelings about Carmelo Anthony very clear (see here and here).

Anthony told Al Iannazzone of Newsday in January that he would at least be open to waiving his no-trade clause, but that his family has deep roots in New York right now.

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"I think it will be more on the front office," Anthony told Newsday this week. "I have the power, but still I would talk to them. We would be in communication if they feel like they want to go in a different direction, they want to start rebuilding for the future. If they tell me they want to scrap this whole thing, yeah, I have to consider it."

The Knicks declined to comment.

Anthony, 32, made it clear that he isn’t thinking about going anywhere. He and his family love it in New York, and his son is in school here. "We’re settled," Anthony said.

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Professionally, Melo's situation with the Knicks is toxic and won't get any better unless Jackson skips town. Personally, it's obvious he and his family love New York and want to stay here.

It's a matter of whether the situation becomes so unbearable that he has no choice but to waive his no-trade clause for a situation that suits him and his family.

Derrick Rose

Two separate and credible sources have connected Derrick Rose with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the past few days.

Ian Begley of ESPN was first to report the news on Monday:

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It is unclear what Minnesota would offer in a potential trade for Rose. Sources say the Timberwolves are motivated to trade veteran point guard Ricky Rubio, as team president and coach Thibodeau sees rookie Kris Dunn as the point guard of the future for Minnesota.

The Timberwolves, sources say, are among several teams to reach out to the Knicks asking about potential trades for Rose.

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On Tuesday, David Aldridge of TNT reported that Rose's former coach in Chicago and the current head man in Minnesota, Tom Thibodeau, wants him in Minnesota.

One has to guess that Rubio would be coming back to New York in any deal, unless the Knicks and T-Wolves find a third trading partner.

Rubio would be a better fit with the Knicks than Rose. That isn't to say Rose hasn't been bad on an individual level—he has an above average 16.4 player efficiency rating, per Basketball-Reference, and is averaging 17.7 points per game—but he is a poor defender (85th out of 89 point guards in defensive real plus-minus, per ESPN) and a shoot-first point guard for an offense that needs a pass-first playmaker to deliver to Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis.

Rubio can be that guy, although he doesn't come without his flaws—namely his dismal shooting (38.6 percent from the field).

While Rose's fit in Minnesota seems questionable as well given that the team needs defensive help more than anything right now, it's possible Thibs is banging the table for Rose because he thinks he can find the magic that made them so successful when they were together in Chicago.

This could be a deal where a change of scenery benefits both sides and the players thrive. A Rose trade to Minnesota certainly seems possible.