Welcome to the Rockets, Melo!
Following a face-to-face meeting last month, the Houston Rockets and Carmelo Anthony have been working on getting everything ready for his signing to the team. The future hall-of-famer is set to earn $27.9 million in salary, for the final year of his original Knicks 2014 max-extension.
However, after a trade from the OKC Thunder to the Atlanta Hawks, he’s expected to get a buyout in the next few days. This morning, the NYT broke news that Melo intends to sign a veteran minimum salary of $2.4 million with the Rockets, to pair up with both Chris Paul and James Harden.
Atlanta plans to ready up paperwork for a buyout within the next week, as he’ll clear waivers sometime next week to become a free agent. Following the departures of Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute in free agency, Houston will now get the perfect fit to the team’s new Mike D’Antoni offense.
Harden chimed in on the situation and went to say, “Carmelo would be a great acquisition for us. He just wants to win at this point, so it would be great for him to be on our team.”
Considering he’s good friends with the captains of the teams and knows coach’s playbook from their time in New York, the Rockets immediately become the undisputed second team in the west.
Let us know in the comments if they’ll be able to compete with the Bay Area’s big five.
The Reason Why Carmelo is Going to Houston & Not Los Angeles
Carmelo Anthony intends to sign with the Houston Rockets upon becoming a free agent, league sources say, though it could be several more days before Melo is formally traded and clears waivers. Full @NYTSports coverage: https://t.co/8T4kLf6IrT
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 23, 2018