Carmelo Anthony's no-trade clause is proving to be a challenge to the Knicks franchise after the star player requested to be traded only to the Houston Rockets. In light of the pending trade, the Rockets team has little to offer after they acquired Chris Paul from the LA Clippers. Of course, there is Houston's hope of building the Big Three and the offer of Carmelo Anthony seem like the perfect trade to deal with, but how much is there left from the Rockets to challenge the New York Knicks' offer?
According to the Daily Knicks, it's surprising how the franchise is willing to trade Carmelo Anthony, but deciding on the trade has a much more difficult challenge; after all, he is their star player.
Previously, news came out that the Knicks talked to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a possible trade with Kyrie Irving, unfortunately, it is not Carmelo's team of choice. Now, talks are heading back to the Houston where options seem limited and lacking essence.
First off, the Houston has already traded Patrick Beverley for Chris Paul, and although the Knicks have yet to decide on what they really want, it is also possible that the trade agreement will have to do draft picks and not about veteran players. The New York Knicks, for quite some now, has tried to build a young empire, capitalizing on younger players who have the potential for stardom. It may be a long process, but their willingness to trade Anthony proves something.
Meanwhile, the fallout from the Kyrie Irving trade could make a big negative impact on the Knicks franchise. After all, Irving's first choice is the Knicks, backed up by several other teams who expressed interest like the San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat, and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
For Carmelo Anthony, he admits losing the "joy" of playing basketball because of the issues surrounding the trade.
In an interview with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt, he said "At the end of the day when you're not enjoying the game, everything else is just 10 x worse, I just want to get back to enjoying the game of basketball. I lost my joy for it a little bit due to everything that's been surrounding me."
New York Knick's new general manager, on the other hand, is not in a hurry to trade Carmelo Anthony.
Possibly because of Houston's interest in the Kyrie Irving trade? Who knows, but for the meantime; neither Kyrie or Carmelo is going anywhere as trade talks are becoming steeper with limited options.