Derek Fisher ‘firmly believes’ Carmelo Anthony can make Knicks NBA champs
By Bryan Rose
The New York Knicks hired Derek Fisher to be the franchises next head coach on Monday afternoon and it didn’t take long for Fisher to begin his recruitment of potential free agent, Carmelo Anthony.
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Facing a player option, Melo can either decide to opt-out of his current contract and become a free agent (which includes the possibility of re-signing with the Knicks) or opting-in, allowing him to remain in the Big Apple for one more season.
Most believe Anthony will decide to opt-out in effort to secure a long term, lucrative deal and the Knicks appear more than willing to provide that to him if he so inclines. They’re also more than happy to provide lip service as Fisher suggested he ‘firmly believes‘ that Carmelo Anthony is in the right place if he wants to lead a team to an NBA championship.
“It didn’t take long for Derek Fisher to proclaim he plans to reestablish the Knicks championship heritage of the 1970s and break the franchise’s 41-year title drought. And the Knicks’ new head coach wants Carmelo Anthony around for the rings, saying he “firmly believes’’ this is the place for him.”
While it’s not outlandish to believe the Knicks can return to their former glory, it’s understandably going to take a bit of time to clean up the current mess. Thankfully the Knicks will have a relatively clean cap in another season, though, if Anthony signs a mega-deal that’s not exactly going to make re-building the roster very easy.
Regardless, the Knicks appear all in on the Melo sweepstakes and they’re saying all the right things.