The NBA Free Agents of 2014 has been the buzz of the league since they signed their contracts with the opt out clauses in 2010. Carmelo Anthony is at the forefront, but should he be prudent and wait until next year?

It is highly unlikely. The New York Knicks are awful this year. From a purely basketball standpoint, any player would look for the fire escape as soon as he can.

But for NBA superstars, it is never a purely basketball standpoint. New York is the biggest city in the world-a marketing gold mine. Despite decades of mediocrity, the Knicks are the most valuable franchise according to Forbes.

Add the fact that the Knicks can offer Carmelo a 5 year $130 million contract that he cannot get anywhere else, Melo must have second thoughts.

But the question is not whether he will stay with the Knicks. It's whether he should be a free agent at all. He has already mentioned that he definitely will. But is that a bad decision?

Brian Windhorst of ESPN has contended that Melo should opt in, meaning, he'll take the $ 23.5 million salary for one more year of misery with the Knicks and become a free agent next year. Why would he do that? These are his reasons:

"The market this summer for top-line free agents is relatively weak. The teams projected to have at least $15 million in cap space this summer are the Dallas Mavericks, Orlando Magic,Philadelphia 76ers, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers.

Several other teams could get to that area, which is still well short of a max contract slot (about $22 million), by waiving some players or not re-signing some of their own free agents. These teams include the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers and, under extreme circumstances, the Heat.

Here are some of the teams in 2015 that are projected to have large cap space: the Knicks, Lakers, Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs and possibly the Houston Rockets."

The teams with cap space this year are those that have 'tanked' or 'bottomed out.' If he's thinking of collaborating with other free agents-aside from the Miami Big 3, his options this year are Pau Gasol, Rudy Gay, Luol Deng, Paul Pierce, Zach Randolph and Dirk Nowitzki. Most are at the twilight of their careers.

Next year, it's Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rajon Rondo, Marc Gasol, Tony Parker, Roy Hibbert, Goran Dragic, Paul Millsap, Thaddeus Young, Al Jefferson.  It's a younger cast, and they would be better complements to Melo's game.

The decision rests on Carmelo. But remember, one more year with the Knicks and his contract expires. If he gets a major injury (we hope not), he misses his chance of assuring his future. And he's still stuck on a bad team with no chance of winning a title.