Phil Jackson and the New York Knicks have seemingly made it clear that the franchise is ready to trade Carmelo Anthony in the summer to rebuild, which raises many questions. Where will the Knicks ship him? Which teams will be interested? Where would Melo prefer to go? Would he waive his no-trade clause?
The Knicks reportedly want to ship him to a team where he could be in a winning situation. Jackson apparently told Anthony that he shouldn’t end his career without winning. Therefore, it appears New York may trade him to a playoff-contending team.
Miami Heat’s possible interest
One of those teams could be the Miami Heat, who barely missed the playoffs this season after battling back from an 11-30 start to the year. The Heat have a nice, young corps that continues to improve mixed with veterans who performed extremely well all year. However, acquiring Anthony could get a little tricky.
According to Ira Winderman of Sun Sentinel, the Heat could simply trade Justise Winslow straight up for Anthony because the team’s cap space is expected to be restored from Chris Bosh’s medical issues. However, in this case, Miami would not be able to re-sign key players James Johnson and Dion Waiters.
Bosh's cap space: $25.2M; Carmelo' 17-18 salary: $26.2M. Winslow-Carmelo works, but no Heat remaining space for James Johnson, Waiters.
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) April 14, 2017
Is it worth it?
Would it be ideal for Miami to squander Waiters and Johnson for Anthony?
Johnson had a surprising year, averaging a career-high 12.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists off the bench. Waiters was also essential to the team’s success. Although he was sidelined for almost half the season with injuries, the 25-year-old had a breakthrough year, averaging 15.8 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.3 rebounds.
He was basically a substantial part of the Heat’s mid-season turnaround.
Losing these two major assets would hurt the Heat despite adding Carmelo Anthony to the team. Anthony is an aging superstar, who hasn’t proven himself as a winner, so it wouldn’t be worth it for Miami to attain Anthony unless they could find other ways to clear cap space to be able to maintain Johnson and Waiters.
But, that may be nearly impossible to accomplish. They will have to lose one or the other if they want Anthony.
Adding in McRoberts from Heat side and Tyler Johnson could open room to re-sign EITHER James Johnson or Dion Waiters. https://t.co/3c9scBE7Kg
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) April 14, 2017
No-trade clause
Ultimately, Anthony has a no-trade clause in his contract and has the power to choose his own destiny. If the Heat are to show interest in the 10-time All-Star, he could quite possibly waive the no-trade clause and part ways with New York. However, the Heat won’t be the only team interested in Anthony when the offseason officially begins. Other teams will definitely inquire about the 13-year veteran.