Superstar Carmelo Anthony could get his wish as the deal between the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets might be finalized this week. Citing a “very solid” source close to the Rockets, Tarek Fattal of the Los Angeles Daily News said Anthony is likely to be a Rocket this week. However, Fattal did not provide details surrounding the agreement between the Knicks and the Rockets.
The Rockets and the Knicks have been negotiating for weeks now about a possible trade involving Anthony. The Knicks tried to deal with the Rockets after Anthony declared that he will only waive his no-trade clause for Houston or the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Initially, the Rockets dangled Ryan Anderson to the Knicks, but New York refused due to the remaining three years and $61 million in the power forward’s contract.
The Rockets brought in two additional teams because they lack the needed personnel to facilitate the trade. Houston’s stock was depleted after it traded Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, Darrun Hilliard, DeAndre Liggins, and Kyle Wiltjer to the Los Angeles Clippers for point guard Chris Paul.
On and off negotiations between Knicks, Rockets
The Knicks temporarily halted talks after they hired Scott Perry as general manager. The front office wanted to give Perry a chance to talk to Anthony and get a piece of his mind before moving forward.
However, Anthony insisted that he be traded to the Rockets so he can play with his close friend Paul and last year’s MVP runner-up James Harden. Anthony also expressed a willingness to waive his trade kicker worth $8 million to ease the burden for the Rockets.
Cavaliers also pursuing Anthony
The Cavaliers are trying to trade for Anthony after Kyrie Irving recently demanded a trade.
The Knicks could also enter into a three-team deal with the Phoenix Suns and the Cavaliers that would bring Anthony to Cleveland for Irving. The trade would also bring Eric Bledsoe to the Cavaliers, the Knicks will get Irving and Tyson Chandler, while the Suns will acquire Kevin Love and rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina.
The Portland Trail Blazers also joined in on the chase for Anthony with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum joining forces to convince the 10-time All-Star to include the Rip City as a trade destination.
Lillard even declared that the Blazers will be a top three team in the Western Conference if Anthony joins them. However, Anthony turned them down, saying he’s not interested in a move to Portland and his mind is set on playing for the Rockets.
