Carmelo Anthony might be another big-name player to change teams this offseason. Anthony has a no-trade clause in his contract which allows him to reject any trade he doesn't like. However, ESPN reports that the New York Knicks superstar is willing to waive the clause this summer in order to be traded to another team.
However, Anthony doesn't want to just leave New York. He wants to be traded to either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Houston Rockets. Considering that he is willing to join only these two teams, we can assume that Carmelo finally wants to win and be on a championship contender.
Anthony's biggest success was reaching conference finals with the Denver Nuggets. He's never made it to the final stage of the playoffs, but if he joins Houston or Cleveland, he could appear in his first-ever NBA Finals next year. Taking into account how bad the Eastern Conference is at the moment, joining the Cavaliers would give him the best chance of making the finals.
Carmelo Anthony and Cleveland Cavaliers
If the Cleveland Cavaliers can trade for Anthony without giving up Kevin Love, they would have a good chance of winning a championship next year. Their starting lineup would have LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Love and Anthony, and they would also have a good bench with Kyle Korver, Iman Shumpert and a few other players.
However, the question is if Cleveland can acquire Carmelo by trading their bench players for him. There is no doubt that Anthony would love to play with LeBron, but will the Cavaliers be able to make a good offer to the Knicks?
Without a general manager, Cleveland is in a tough situation. LeBron James is not helping them recruit free agents and their salary cap situation is horrible.
The only way they can get better is if they unload some of their big contracts to the Knicks for Carmelo Anthony.
Melo in Houston
Houston Rockets were the third-best team last regular season and they recently traded for Chris Paul, who is one of the best playmakers in the NBA. Paul is not only a great player, but he is a good friend of Carmelo Anthony and if the small forward joins the Rockets this summer, it will probably be because of Paul.
The Rockets could offer Ryan Anderson and one more player for Carmelo Anthony. Even though Anderson has a huge contract, the Knicks most likely wouldn't mind it as they are just looking to get rid of Anthony. However, by joining the Rockets, the forward might not make it to the finals as the Golden State Warriors will be a huge obstacle for them.
