[Wakes up] [Checks Knicks news to see if anything's going on] [Winces] [Considers just going back to sleep for a few days]
So, this is terrific. Yesterday, someone decided to tell Marc Berman that Carmelo Anthony and Mike D'Antoni were beefin'. Today, this "confidant" of Anthony's gave Berman a massive EXCLUSIVE report that includes Melo being hurt that D'Antoni and Glen Grunwald "do not trust him" and kinda sorta asking to be traded without actually making a "formal trade request". Go ahead and read Berman's report if you'd like to lose your appetite. You can learn exactly who Melo is friends with and who's he's mad at these days and how he wishes he had more input in team decisions, which is totally a right that he's earned.
Whoever these sources are, they seem to be fomenting the demise of Mike D'Antoni. The lovely Chris Broussard has been told that D'Antoni, unwilling to stand up to the dastardly Melo, has lost touch with his players. They feel confused, discouraged, and disrespected and have stopped responding to him. So, I guess the team needs a new coach?
Or maybe they should just indulge Melo's semi-trade demands? He's completely alienated his teammates, according to Howard Beck. In fact, the Daily News reports that a faction of the New York front office would like to trade Melo, but Scott O'Neil and James Dolan are opposed.
So, to recap: Melo feels sad about his relationship with D'Antoni the organization, some but not all of the organization wants to trade Melo, and Melo's teammates, who mostly dislike him, are turning against D'Antoni. Thanks, sources! Oh, and none of this matters because we're going to be underwater soon anyway.
Whatever the case may be, some people on the inside picked this week to spray gasoline on the fire that had been spreading through the Knick locker room. Right now, it feels like this has to end with somebody getting booted out of town. Silly as it would be to ditch D'Antoni just a month or two before his contract expires, that doesn't seem impossible. Meanwhile, if the Knicks do want to trade Melo, they only have a day to do so. It seems likely that Melo is stuck here for some time, and the fanbase's budding disdain for him is only going to get more venomous.
The Knicks are at home to face the Blazers tonight. That environment should be AWESOME.
Update: Here's Frank Isola chiming in again:
Carmelo Anthony's agent, Leon Rose, refutes reports that Melo wants out of NY. "Total nonsense," Rose tells Daily News. "It's laughable."
I have no idea what to believe, but it hardly matters at this point. All the reports are out there, and unless the team completely turns its season around, this type of stuff is going to continue to stink up the whole organization.