Knicks Turmoil: Carmelo Anthony & Tim Hardaway Jr Fight- Superstar Hurt: Time For A Trade?

New York Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony and teammate Tim Hardaway Jr have reportedly almost traded blows as the NBA glamour team struggle with the worst start in franchise history. What will their president, legendary coach Phil Jackson, do? With the Knicks so bad, should the team be pursuing trades to bring in superstar help for Carmelo, or trade off their assets and tank for the 2015 NBA draft and target a big man like Jahlil Okafor? The Knicks sit at 4-19, and Carmelo, meanwhile, might be looking at a surgical procedure on his knee, forcing him to sit out games.

All is clearly not well with the Knicks, and ESPN's Chris Broussard reports that Carmelo and Hardaway nearly fought during the team's game against the Brooklyn Nets last week. After a missed rebound and being admonished by Hardaway about it, "Carmelo Anthony approached Hardaway on the way down the court," says Broussard, "and used an expletive to ask Hardaway who in the world he thought he was talking to."

"Anthony, according to sources," adds Broussard, "used another expletive in telling Hardaway he was going to beat him up when they got into the locker room after the game."

He then adds that after last night's defeat at the hands of Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans, "Anthony and Hardaway exchanged words after the loss to the Pelicans, as well," and that the team are reportedly not happy with first year coach Derek Fisher and his triangle offense.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported today that executives around the league and within the Knicks believe "they feel like there's a loser's mentality pervasive in the organization," and that during the offseason they "didn't bring winners into this team."

"In the next six weeks," he added, the Knicks "should not be looking at trades to add to the team, they should be looking at trades to pull the team apart, try to pick up some assets."

As New York get set to take on the San Antonio Spurs tonight, NBA TV report "The Knicks may do so without Melo, who is considered questionable with a knee injury."

A nagging knee injury could keep @carmeloanthony out for the @nyknicks tonight vs. @spurs. https://t.co/seovAMk4ff pic.twitter.com/Qa6pocJzPJ

— NBA.com (@NBAcom) December 10, 2014

As Carmelo told The New York Daily News' Frank Isola, "At this point, it's evaluating and seeing. Some days are better than others. It's a matter if I want to continue to play on it and the pain threshold. The flip side to that is we are losing games. I hate it, I hate to sit on the sidelines and watch my teammates."

"At this point," he continued to NYDN, "sitting down with trainers and coaches and seeing what's best for everybody. If it's best for me to sit out, take some time to get it right, then that's a decision we'll have to make. But they'll have to pull me out."

As Isola points out, "Anthony is in the first year of a five-year, $125 million contract that includes a no-trade clause," so it appears the Knicks are stuck with Carmelo for the moment. Which means Jackson could strip the rest of the roster and tank hard, or scour the leaue for any sort of possible trade to upgrade their clearly terrible roster.

As reported by Mstars News, Carmelo has already expressed regret about not joining the Chicago Bulls, who he called a "perfect fit".

What do you think? Should the Knicks tank the rest of the season, or trade off what they can to bring in whatever help is available for Carmelo? Who is out there that could make a difference to the struggling Knicks? Is Phil Jackson doing a good job?