‘Melo will be a free agent next summer.
New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony has dismissed speculation he may decide to leave in free agency next summer, by insisting he wants to “retire in New York”.
‘Melo was speaking with TNT ahead of the 82-81 defeat to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night, and he insisted that he wants to stay with the franchise for the rest of his career.
The rumour mill went into overdrive last month after he admitted that he wanted to test free agency at the end of the season, but he has confirmed his desire to stay in New York.
“They pulled all the strings to get me here, and I wanted to be here, you know,” Anthony said according to ESPN. “And I want to retire in New York, let’s be quite frank. I think a lot of people jumped the gun when I said I wanted to be a free agent.
“And yeah, I want people to come to play in New York. I want them to want to play in New York. I want New York to be that place where guys want to come play in New York.”
Anthony scored 22 points with six rebounds, six assists and six steals in the narrow loss in Chicago, but refused to be drawn on his comments after the game.
He stood by what he had previously noted and will likely stay with the Knicks and try to play an influential role in helping bring other big names to the franchise moving forward.
The Olympic gold medal star has two years remaining on his current contract, but can opt out at the end of the season.
Should he decide to remain with the Knicks, he will be able to sign a five-year contract worth $129,135,806. However, if he were to leave he can sign up to a $95,897,372 over four years according to ESPN salary-cap expert Larry Coon.
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