When will the Knicks be considered a championship contender? ESPN's Brian Windhorst believes that Carmelo Anthony has a choice to make before that happens. 

"The Knicks have a big thing and it’s not their decision," said Windhorst, to "Armen and Levack", on the ESPN Campus. "Is Carmelo going to be a part of this or not? There’s a day coming where Carmelo is going to have to decide if he wants to be a part of this or not.

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"There’s a day coming, I don’t know when that day is going to be, where Carmelo is going to decide if he’s going to ride it out or not. The reason why he has to decide is because he has a no trade clause in his contract.

"There are people in the league that say, ‘It’s too long of a rebuilding process for him and he’s going to want to get out’. That’s not the sense I get at all. From the people I talk to, Carmelo has totally bought into it.

"But, would the Knicks be smart to come to Carmelo and say, ‘Hey, listen, this is a three year project … let’s do you a favor and work out a deal where we can accelerate our advancement.’ The Knicks don’t have their first round pick this year and are going to have limited ability to expand their team through the draft over the next two years.

"They’re playing great. Their schedule through November is brutal. The key is going to be, when they take their lumps on the road, are they going to be able to carry through it and be able to make a run for the playoffs? But really the Carmelo question is hanging over the franchise - Is Carmelo going to be here over the next three years or is he going to make a move?"

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