Carmelo Anthony, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Frank Ntilikina play pick-up
By Joe Romano
Carmelo Anthony was spotted playing pick-up hoops with fellow New York Knicks players Frank Ntilikina and Tim Hardaway Jr.
The legend of Hoodie Melo lives on. This time, the former All-Star forward is seen playing with New York Knicks’ newcomers.
Carmelo Anthony has been in trade rumors all offseason and he has expressed interest in joining the Houston Rockets. That apparently has not stopped him from taking two new players on his team under his hooded wing for a pick-up game.
Video emerged last night of Anthony playing alongside rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina and newly signed free agent Tim Hardaway Jr.
The video focuses mostly on the rookie guard. The Knicks selected Ntilikina with the eighth pick of this past NBA Draft.
Ntilikina is a young exciting prospect that the Knicks are hoping to pair with fellow young European Kristaps Porzingis. The lengthy point guard matches Porzingis’ timeline and is a great fit for the modern NBA.
Tim Hardaway Jr., who the Knicks inked to a four-year, $71 million contract this off-season, also appears in the game. Hardaway is still young and the team hopes he has room to grow. He averaged a career-best 14 points per game for the Atlanta Hawks last season.
The two incoming Knicks players have already bonded. They were spotted working out together over the weekend as well. This new footage, and some other mitigating factors have led some in the New York basketball world to wonder if Carmelo Anthony is now interested in staying with the Knicks.
Anthony and his no-trade clause have been a hot topic all offseason. Rumors were flying linking him to Cleveland and Houston. Of course, Anthony controls where he plays next thanks to that no trade clause in his contract.
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If he chooses to stay with the Knicks, we can look forward to another iteration of Anthony. We’ve now seen Knicks Melo, Olympic Melo and Hoodie Melo. Could Mentor Melo be coming next?