The 2014 NBA Free Agency Rumors & Predictions continue and one of the major factors of the offseason is where Carmelo Anthony lands. If 'it's not about the money' then he's out of New York!

That is the simple truth that Knicks President Phil Jackson has to face. They do not have the tools to win now, and with the latest Tyson Chandler trade, New York loses its best-maybe only defensive player.

But the Zen Master continues to hope that Melo would keep his word that he is willing to take a pay cut to make the team competitive. In an interview with ESPN:

On whether he is optimistic that Melo will stay: "It's a big question because there are so many things that can happen out there. We really don't know. With LeBron getting in this free agency, and all this stuff, kind of tipsy and turvy right now.

"We don't know what all that means. But we have every confidence that Carmelo is good for what his word is, that he wants to be in New York, he likes playing in New York, he wants to compete, he wants to be part of a playoff team that is competitive toward a championship."

Anthony's statement can be taken both ways. If he sees that the Knicks would not be competitive, there are other teams who are.

"When I take his word, he's the one who opened that up, that it wasn't about the money. So I challenged him on that, because I wanted our fans to see he's a team player, that he was going to do what's best to get our team ahead farther and faster. But you know, that's not going to be an issue. I think there's gonna be things happening in the league in the near future in the NBA that's gonna grow this league, and monetarily it's not going to be an issue for us to do it."

Jackson eventually admits that: "We have many handicaps obviously with our salary cap being what it is."

But he foreshadows some possibilities: "But, you know, there's always a possibility. We're not going to rule ourselves out of any gambit that could possibly put us in the chance to really do something special."

It's not outside the realm of possibility. The Tyson Chandler trade was virtually unexpected and no one saw it coming. It's good for the Knicks in the long run but it's a step from winning now.

That's the main problem between Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony: Phil has a long-term plan but Melo wants to win now.