The biggest question on the minds of every NBA fan right now is what will the New York Knicks do with Carmelo Anthony? According to ESPN, Anthony is willing to waive his no-trade clause if he can get traded to either the Cleveland Cavaliers or Oklahoma City Thunder. He was also willing to go to the Houston Rockets, but that ended up not coming to fruition.
On Wednesday, I wrote about the New York Knicks now needing to be Kristaps Porzingis' team, but of course, the Knicks may not heed my warnings and instead hang onto Anthony through the season. The key thing to understand is that the Anthony has a MASSIVE contract that pays him $26.2M this season and $27.9M the following season. He won't hit unrestricted free agency until 2019 and at that point, a team will be able to sign him for a lot cheaper. To take on that contract for two seasons is only worth it if you truly believe adding Anthony makes your team a legitimate championship contender.
The good news for Anthony (and the Knicks), is he could make both the Cavaliers and Thunder legit championship contenders. LeBron James needs a true sidekick with Kyrie Irving gone, while the Thunder are at least one man short of giving the Golden State Warriors a serious run for their money.
The Thunder to me is the more intriguing destination for Anthony because he'd give them a big three that includes Russell Westbrook and Paul George. Together, Anthony, Westbrook, and George would form a very exciting trio that would make basketball in Oklahoma City great again (sorry, I couldn't resist!). I don't know if that trio would be capable of winning a title, but I'd sure like to find out! As for the Cavaliers, I think that would be a better destination for Anthony since he'd have less competition to deal with. The Cavaliers is the safer team for Anthony to go to, but the Thunder is the more intriguing team since that situation is much more of an unknown.
While I don't know for sure what will happen with Carmelo Anthony, the overall vibe is that something will go down. It's just a matter of when. It could happen this weekend, it could happen right before the trade deadline, etc. It's almost like Donald Trump's impeachment: Everything indicates it's going to happen, but we just don't know when it will happen, exactly.
Ultimately, the New York Knicks would be wise to trade Carmelo Anthony, but they need to make sure they get back as much for him as possible. He's a very valuable asset to have and you don't want to give away an asset of his magnitude for nothing. Personally, I think Carmelo Anthony will be with the Knicks through training camp and a trade will happen sometime close to the trade deadline. I could even see him getting shipped out in a last second trade deadline move.
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