When the Carmelo Anthony trade talks reignited in this year's offseason, the team favored to acquire him was the Houston Rockets. There were rumors that he was willing to waive the no-trade clause in his contract just to be in Houston. However, as the offseason progressed, more squads got involved in the sweepstakes. In the end, it was the Oklahoma City Thunder who successfully landed him.
On Thursday, in an interview with SiriusXM Radio, Anthony revealed that he was close to joining the Rockets. Unfortunately for the franchise, the trade did not materialize.
"A deal was done with Houston early, then for some reason, whatever happened behind the scenes, it didn't go through," the 33-year-old stated. Anthony added that after this, he and the New York Knicks decided to look at other options. ESPN mentioned in its report that the Rockets and Knicks failed to find a third team needed to facilitate the swap.
If the Rockets were the ones who got Anthony, they would have had a super team that featured him, top MVP candidate James Harden, and All-Star playmaker Chris Paul. With Houston failing in its pursuit of Anthony, Paul is now officially the organization's biggest addition this offseason. In June, the Rockets sent seven players, a future first-round draft pick, and cash to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for "CP3."
Paul George connection
During the interview, Anthony also shared that he and Paul George were communicating in the summer and talked about teaming up.
He admitted that they never thought of Oklahoma City. Anthony explained that the first team where they were almost teammates was the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Thunder forward said he and George were set to join the Cavs at the 2017 NBA Draft but similar to what happened with the Rockets, the deals fell apart. They still ended up together, though, but with the Thunder.
Motivated Melo
Anthony told SiriusXM Radio now that he is in Oklahoma City, he has the motivation, something he lost during his stint with the Knicks. Anthony's time in New York was a challenging one. When he signed with the franchise, he was expected to help restore its former glory. Sadly, that did not happen as the Knicks' struggles continued despite his efforts. The first time fans might see the motivated version of Anthony is on October 3 when the Thunder open their preseason campaign versus the organization that nearly had him, the Rockets.
