The Portland Trail Blazers have all of a sudden become the front-runner in the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes. With training camp just around the corner, Fox Sports 1's Jason McIntyre reported on Thursday that the New York Knicks are seriously considering the Blazers’ trade offer for the 10-time NBA All-Star.

According to the NBA insider, Melo's camp will make one last attempt to convince the Knicks into trading him to the Houston Rockets by Monday. Should the Knicks rebuff the Rockets' offer, Anthony is reportedly willing to waive his no-trade clause on a trade to Portland.

The Blazers have been aggressive recruiting Anthony, believing that the addition of a dynamic scorer like Melo will put them on the same level with other Western Conference elites.

The never-ending Melo-drama

The 33-year old Anthony will be entering his 15th NBA season with still no championship hardware on his finger. Among the top five players selected in the vaunted 2003 NBA Draft class, only Anthony hasn’t won an NBA title at this point in his career.

After six and half seasons in the Big Apple, Melo finally wants to take his talent elsewhere.

The Houston Rockets are the no.1 trade destination for the star, as the team offers him the opportunity to play alongside his buddy Chris Paul and perennial All-NBA team player James Harden.

Unfortunately, the Rockets have no direct path towards acquiring Anthony via trade since the Knicks are not keen on absorbing floor-stretcher Ryan Anderson and his bloated contract of $63 million over three years.

In order to land Anthony, Houston general manager Daryl Morey must find a third team acting as a conduit party in a three-team trade. The Milwaukee Bucks reportedly inquired about the possibility of becoming that ‘third team’ but backed off with Anderson’s deal as a roadblock.

The Blazers don’t present the same complications the Knicks will encounter in a trade with the Rockets.

Portland can basically throw in a package of young players with draft picks as trade sweetener. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN considered the Blazers as the darkhorse in the Melo trade because of persistent recruiting from stars Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, though he still believed their effort won’t be enough to supplant Anthony’s desire to play in Houston.

Potential trade package for Melo

Should the Blazers pursue a trade for Anthony, several key players on the roster could be used as part of a trade package for the swingman. Evan Turner, at $17M per year, looks like an enticing trade target with his ability to play in the backcourt and wing position. Then, there’s wing-stopper Al-Farouq Aminu cheap at $7M per year or an upside player Meyers Leonard at $9M per year to form the bulk of the trade offer. If it’s still not enough, general manager Neil Olshey can include a future draft pick or two to make the offer more irresistible for the Knicks to turn down.
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