Cavs or Rockets. . .
The Carmelo Anthony tenure in Gotham City may be finally coming to an end. Tonight, ESPN Insider, Adrian Wojnarowski has confirmed that the star player is now open to waiting his no-trade clause – but for only two teams. Suprisingly, the Boston Celtics have been left off his destination wish list, as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets are on his radar this summer.
The Cavs are obvious, given his long-standing friendship with LeBron James, but the King has been reluctant to openly recruit talent to Dan Gilbert’s team – which has many weary that he may leave again next summer in free agency, for good. With the Rockets, he’s also close friends with Chris Paul, as well as James Harden, who’s been recruiting Melo to join the team.
The only thing that stands in his way of heading down to the H, is his un-repaired relationship with former Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni. The two later worked together during Team USA’s Gold Medal run later that year, keeping things cordial. Given the circumstances of New York and the team’s modern history of being underachieves, a lengthy sit-down between the two would need to happen before Daryl Morey attempts to do anything with landing Melo.
While examining the possibilities of a trade, the Cavs could ship out the contracts of Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye, back to their home teams, as well as a draft pick compensation.
The Rockets would have a tougher task of getting Carmelo, as NY wouldn’t be fond of absorbing the salary of Ryan Anderson – who’s set to make $60 million over the next three years. In our opinion, Anthony still gets his wishes of being off the Knicks this summer, but it’ll be a buyout.
He’s still due $54 million over two years, but will be able to get a large sum and come off the books in New York. Let us know which team would best suit the talents of Melo next year.
Melo now open to waiving no-trade clause for Cavs or Rockets, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/vHIQbqUaNg
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 3, 2017