Carmelo Anthony, 31, who has four years and nearly $102 million remaining on his contract, would apparently prefer not to wait for the Knicks’ top selection to pan out.
Coming off a strong season in his return from injury, Lopez chose on Friday to bypass the $16.7 million he would have earned next season. He will be able to talk to other teams July 1.
While it is still too soon to tell whether Emmanuel Mudiay’s journey through China to the N.B.A. draft marks the beginning of a trend, some young players might be lured by the riches associated with playing overseas as the N.C.A.A. sorts through legal battles.
Kristaps Porzingis and Jerian Grant both envision making contributions right away during their rookie NBA campaigns.
Anthony told a close friend ‘are we supposed to wait two or three years for this guy?’ when discussing the 19-year-old forward.