Carmelo Anthony may have changed his mind about waiving his no-trade clause

The Knicks forward explained how he might consider being traded

In his sit-down with Knicks team president Phil Jackson on Tuesday, Carmelo Anthony reiterated that he has no plans to waive his no-trade clause and wants to continue playing in New York. Anthony has been beating this drum for quite some time now, repeatedly expressing his desire to remain on the Knicks. But Anthony may have relented a bit when it comes to the possibility of being sent to another team.

Speaking with Newsday's Al Iannazzone, Anthony said he would consider waiving his no-trade clause if the Knicks informed him that they were looking to rebuild:

Anthony has a no-trade clause in his contract, but he said he would be willing to listen to management if they told him they wanted to make a change.

"I think it will be more on the front office," Anthony told Newsday this week. "I have the power, but still I would talk to them. We would be in communication if they feel like they want to go in a different direction, they want to start rebuilding for the future. If they tell me they want to scrap this whole thing, yeah, I have to consider it."

Despite the Knicks' struggles this season, it seems unlikely that Jackson will want to start a rebuilding process. After all, he made some flashy moves in the offseason like trading for Derrick Rose and signing Joakim Noah so the Knicks could become a playoff team. But that hasn't happened as the Knicks have lost 12 of their last 15 games and are currently ninth in the East, three games behind the eighth-place Chicago Bulls.

The season is far from over, though. The Knicks could turn things around, especially now that Kristaps Porzinigis has returned from an Achilles injury. If the Knicks put together a nice little win streak, they could make their way up the standings and perhaps finish as either the seventh or eighth seed in the East.

That is, of course, a rather big "if."

But even if the Knicks don't make the playoffs, Jackson personally is highly motivated to turn the franchise around, and keeping Anthony instead of rebuilding at least has New York playing competitive basketball.

Yet the fact that Anthony has acknowledged that he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause is significant and, if the Knicks continue to spiral downwards, rebuilding may be a path Jackson and the Knicks explore this season.