Carmelo Anthony and his representatives were in contact with management of the New York Knicks during the 2019 offseason about rejoining the franchise on a minimum contract.

Anthony's camp attempted to convince the Knicks that signing him would improve their chances of signing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

The Knicks were intrigued about the possibility of signing Anthony, but would only do so once they received commitments from Durant and Irving.

“He wanted to stay in New York,” said a person close to Anthony. “That’s what he was hoping for, but it didn’t work out.”

Durant and Irving lobbied the Nets to sign Anthony but the front office had several concerns.