The New York Knicks are hoping for a much improved win total this year after only 17 wins a season ago. In order for that win total to go up as much as they hope they will need a great season from Carmelo Anthony at the very least. Anthony underwent knee surgery after the All-Star game last season and that ended his 2014-15 campaign. Anthony seems fully healthy heading into this season but the Knicks are looking into playing him less minutes, according to Ian Begley of ESPN New York.
Anthony is now 31 years old and entering his 13th season in the NBA so keeping his body fresh and staying healthy is of the utmost important to the Knicks. Anthony is clearly the best player on the Knicks and their only true go-to scoring option so it is important that they find a balance between limiting his minutes and costing the team games.
Head coach Derek Fisher says that guys don't play as many minutes as they used to and that the Knicks will have to find the right number for their star player.
"It's a trend that has gone completely down. From having guys playing 40 minutes, 39 minutes a night into the low 30s for a lot of franchise players. That's a part of what we're trying to do with our program and our performance team is include the player in that conversation and have him understand why we want to do certain things," said Fisher.
Fisher also said that Anthony has been willing to accept playing less minutes as he knows it's good for him and the team in the long run. Melo has never played less than 34 minutes per game in his career and was at just under 36 minutes per game in his 40 contests last year so it will be interesting what number they settle on.
The likelihood is that Anthony still ends up playing about 32 minutes per game which isn't a huge difference but four minutes per game difference adds up especially for a player that has logged more than 30,000 minutes in his career. Arron Afflalo is really the only other guy on the Knicks roster who is a scorer and he has been dealing with a hamstring injury so it will be interesting to see if the Knicks stick to this plan if they start to struggle on offense without Melo on the floor. The idea to play Melo less minutes this season is a solid one in theory but in order for the Knicks to improve they need him on the floor as much as possible.
