The New York Knicks recently found a general manager for the team in Scott Perry. The former vice president of basketball operations for the Sacramento Kings signed a five-year deal with the Knicks. With the acquisition of Perry, all trade talks with the Houston Rockets have paused over the possibility of moving Carmelo Anthony.
The question arises of when those talks will be revisited? According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, those talks could be on pause for a while for one simple reason.
Front office would like Anthony to open up no-trade clause
As of now, Anthony has stated that he would only waive his no-trade clause for the Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers. However, Berman reports that sources say that the front office wants Anthony to open up his wish list to other teams.
The Knicks are hoping that they can get at least a draft pick, a young player, and cleared cap space. In the report, it says the Knicks are interested in Phoenix Suns point guard Eric Bledsoe. Bledsoe played with current Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek when he was the coach of the Suns. The Suns apparently offered their other point guard, Brandon Knight, instead.
As of today, it's unlikely that Anthony would waive his no-trade clause for the Suns.
It's even more unlikely that the Suns want to absorb his contract. However, it does make the Suns an intriguing fourth party to execute a trade with the Rockets.
Potential trade involving the Suns
The key to the trade is finding a team that will take the contract of Ryan Anderson. The Portland Trail Blazers have been rumored to possibly take Anderson's deal, but they would have to move Maurice Harkless, and Meyers Leonard.
Those two players have a salary that is nearly what Anderson makes.
In this scenario, it would chance the former rumors a bit. The Rockets would get Anthony and send Anderson to the Trail Blazers. The Trail Blazers would send Harkless to the Knicks. The Suns would trade Eric Bledsoe to the Knicks and receive Frank Ntilikina, the Knicks first round draft pick this season.
The trade may not be likely, but it is not impossible. Think about it this way. The Knicks want a draft pick, but if they received Bledsoe, they would get him for two more years. The team already re-signed Ron Baker as a backup. The Suns would get compensation for losing their point guard and would have a building block to pair with Josh Jackson and Devin Booker. Of course, the Rockets would get what they wanted all along in Anthony. Is the trade going to happen? Probably not. However, it makes for a very interesting discussion.
