Carmelo Anthony Trade News: Knicks star likely to waive no-trade clause

Carmelo Anthony, the New York Knicks superstar, is likely to waive his no-trade clause and ask to be shipped out of the Big Apple, per several NBA insiders.

Anthony has two more seasons left on the five-year, $US 124 million ($AU166 million) contract he signed with the Knicks during the summer of 2014. He has a Player Option ahead of the 2018-19 season but will most likely opt in seeing as the All-Star forward would be approaching the final phase of his career.

Therefore, the team which trades for Anthony (or rather the team Anthony agrees to be traded to) would acquire his services for two full seasons following the 2016-17 season.

Even though the Knicks have started the new season on a decent note, winning 12 of their first 22 games, there is a storm brewing between team president Phil Jackson and Anthony, per reports, especially after the Zen Master said recently that his franchise player "holds onto the ball too long".

Carmelo Anthony out of New York?

After suffering an embarrassing loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday, an evidently agitated Anthony refused to respond to Jackson's remarks, and later took to Instagram to post cryptic posts.

“Oh, c’mon. I don’t want to answer those questions," Anthony said when asked to respond to Jackson, via NY Daily News. “I want to stay away from that at this point. My focus is my teammates. And winning. Whatever Phil said, he said, I have nothing to say about that.”

Jackson had taken a swipe at Anthony during an interview with CBS Sports: “Carmelo a lot of times wants to hold the ball longer than — we have a rule: If you hold a pass two seconds, you benefit the defense. So he has a little bit of a tendency to hold it for three, four, five seconds, and then everybody comes to a stop."

On Thursday, Anthony posted the following on Instagram:

At this stage, a team willing to trade for Anthony would be making a bold move due to the magnitude of the contract and the fact that the former Syracuse standout is well beyond his prime.

Having said that, Anthony is still a bonafide NBA superstar who could bridge the gap between a good team and a championship contender. Since the Anthony vs Jackson saga began, several media outlets have hinted at Boston Celtics as a possible destination since the eastern conference team has plenty of young assets to part with, and also have the cap room flexibility needed to accommodate the superstar's contract.

Will Carmelo Anthony find his way out of New York by February? It's not totally unfathomable.