The Portland Trail Blazers are interested in acquiring All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony but the New York Knicks star is not willing to waive his no-trade clause for the Trail Blazers. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Anthony is not interested in moving to Portland despite being courted by several Trail Blazers stars, like CJ McCollum, who posted a photo of the Knicks star wearing a Blazers uniform.
Wojnarowski told ESPN's The Jump that despite Anthony’s pronouncement, the Blazers are dead-set on pursuing the 10-time All-Star. Wojnarowski added that the Blazers will be an ideal destination for Anthony, who will have a chance to play alongside McCollum, Dame Lillard, and Jusuf Nurkic.
Earlier, Anthony declared that he will waive his no-trade clause for the Houston Rockets or the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Knicks recently halted negotiations with the Rockets after hiring new manager Scott Perry. However, Wojnarowski said the talks are likely to resume soon.
Portland not helping Rockets pursue Anthony
According to Wojnarowski, the Blazers don’t plan to help the Rockets acquire Anthony because they are conference rivals. Due to lack of tradable pieces, the Rockets have involved two more teams in their discussions with the Knicks. At first, the Rockets tried to make a straight trade with the Knicks, offering forward Ryan Anderson and his three-year, $61 million deal but New York turned it down.
The Knicks don’t want to be burdened by the remaining amount in Anderson’s contract so they are looking for a trade that will match Anthony’s $26 million deal.
Three trades the Blazers can make for Anthony
According to ESPN’s Trade Machine, the Blazers can make three offers to the Knicks that will be acceptable to both parties.
First, the Blazers can offer Maurice Harkless, Ed Davis, and Al-Farouq Aminu to the Knicks for Anthony. The valuable two-year, $15 million contract of Al-Aminu and the expiring contract of Ed Davis will make this deal attractive to the Knicks, who earlier expressed interest in Harkless.
Another option for the Blazers is to send Harkless, Davis, Meyers Leonard and a 2018 first-round pick for Anthony.
The Blazers will include the first-round pick if the Knicks were willing to take on the remaining three years and approximately $30 million left on Leonard's contract. The third involves Harkless, Allen Crabbe and the Blazers’ 2018 first- and second-round draft picks. The Blazers must include two draft picks to compensate for Crabbe’s remaining three-year, $19.3 million contract.
