After a long wait, it seems that the New York Knicks are all set to trade their power forward Carmelo Anthony. The 10-time All-Star player will soon be on his way to the Oklahoma City Thunder. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski wrote that the New York Knicks will acquire forward Doug McDermott, Enes Kanter, and a second-round pick in the 2018 NBA draft.
Finally, the 33-year-old Carmelo Anthony is all set to waive his no-trade clause along with his $8.1 million trade kicker to support the deal. That said, the deal between the Knicks and Oklahoma City will be taking place on Monday.
According to the reports, Carmelo will waive his no-trade clause only for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, and the Thunder.
Carmelo Anthony to start practice with the Thunder on Tuesday
The deal is confirmed as Anthony will be heading to Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon and will start practice with the team on Tuesday. The Thunder's training camp is starting on Tuesday and Anthony will be available to take up the requirements Apparently, the Thunder assistant general manager Troy Weaver and Carmelo share a history. It seems that Troy helped Anthony in his recruitment to Syracuse University.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will now have a great combination of players. Carmelo Anthony will play alongside some of NBA's top stars in Russell Westbrook, and Paul George.
It turns out that Paul George and Russel Westbrook played an important role in obtaining Carmelo to waive his no-trade clause for the Thunder. The upcoming NBA season is certainly going to be good for Oklahoma City. On the other hand, George and Westbrook might become free agents in the summer of 2018.
Oklahoma City takes a huge responsibility with the trade
With the closure of this deal, the Thunder will have a huge commitment. The team's payroll will rise up to $134 million this season. Plus, they will be acquiring $27.8 million in luxury tax for the 2017-18 season. Carmelo has the player option for $27.9 million for 2018-19.
On the other hand, he has around $54 million left on his contract.
It turns out that Oklahoma City are ready to push forward for the deal with New York despite what may come their way. Scott Perry from the Knicks and Sam Presti from the Thunder have been discussing the possibility of trading Carmelo for weeks. Now that things have come to light, this will be the second major deal for Oklahoma City this summer. Previously, they acquired Paul George, which was big enough. Ultimately, Carmelo Anthony is on his way to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
