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Free agent Carmelo Anthony is expected to re-sign with the New York Knicks, according to the New York Daily News.
Not only that, but he’s apparently going to announce his decision on Thursday.
“Barring a last minute change of heart,” the report says, “Anthony will re-sign with the Knicks after ‘agonizing over this’ for the past week.”
Carmelo had been considering the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. Because of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, the Knicks could offer him a longer, more lucrative contract than either of those teams.
Going to Chicago would have given him the best chance to win a title immediately. A “Big-3″ of Derrick Rose, Carmelo, and Joakim Noah, with Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler, and Nikola Mirotic as the supporting cast would have been an instant NBA Finals contender. But Chicago couldn’t pay Carmelo as much as New York could, and the Bulls likely would have needed to acquire him via a sign-and-trade anyway.
There’s no word on the details of the contract. This tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski suggests it’s the max:
The Knicks won’t have room to sign another free agent until 2015-16, when Amare Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani’s contracts expire.
The first big domino of NBA free agency has fallen.