Carmelo Anthony Leaves Knicks; Will Miami Sign 'Melo'?

As many NBA fans and experts anticipated, Carmelo Anthony is opting out of the New York Knicks officially on June 23.

The All-Star power forward has until July 1 to file a notice with the team that he intends to end his contract early to enter free agency status, in a report by Yahoo! Sports. Anthony currently has a $23.5 million contract ready with the Knicks for the 2014-2015 NBA season. However, he has until June 30 to terminate such and try his chances of winning an NBA championship with other interested teams.

Phil Jackson, the new president of the Knicks hoped that Anthony would stay for his final year. New team coach Derek Fisher and Jackson have been busy trying to create a strategic plan which supposedly involved the forward. Although New York is in the best financial position to offer Anthony a lucrative contract, Anthony seemed set to move out and position himself in a better roster, even if it means getting paid much less. Some of the teams that are keen on having the former NBA scoring leader are the Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets.

In an NBC Sports feature, although a lot of talks are circulating that the former champions Miami Heat are looking forward to acquiring Carmelo Anthony, Pat Riley, president of the franchise, ended these finally and said, "That's not where we're headed."

Riley added that the Miami Heat has to work within the salary cap rules and retool the players they already have. On the possibility of uniting the 2003 draft classmates, Riley has this to say: "That's a pipe dream. But everybody thought 2010 was a pipe dream too. I don't harbor that thought. I'm being realistic right now. Dealing with what we have right now. That's a possibility, but that's not what we're thinking about today."

A source close to "Melo" confirmed that Anthony will definitely opt out of his contract. In a report by New York Daily News, Anthony's agents already forwarded a letter to the Knicks on June 20 to indicate their client's plan to terminate his contract. The Knicks in the meantime are still doing their best to lure Anthony into staying. As for the money, the Knicks can give him up to $129 million for a contract lasting five years while other teams can only give him $96 million over four years maximum. Anthony is apparently concerned about being part of a rebuilding season, similar to what the Knicks went through in the previous years.