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Carmelo Anthony is ready to dip New York. Where’s he going?
It’s no secret Carmelo Anthony wants to leave New York.
It seems to have finally hit him that he is well past his prime and if he wants to chase a championship ring, the time is now.
But over the weekend ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Knicks are attempting to convince him to stay in the Big Apple for one more season.
Anthony wasn’t happy about that and informed Knicks management that he wants out.
For weeks it appeared there were two teams in the running to obtain the former Syracuse star’s services: the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But on Saturday, Portland Trailblazers guard C.J. McCollum posted a picture on Instagram of Carmelo Anthony in a Blazers uniform.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWnlQ4DFE7H/
The Blazers could offer the Knicks a solid trade package centered around young, inexpensive wing players but it is unclear if Carmelo would waive his no-trade clause for Portland.
So if Carmelo is dealt, what would each trade look like and what would it provide each team on the court?
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavs were praying the Knicks would buy out Carmelo and they could leverage his friendship with LeBron James to bring him to Cleveland.
But it appears the Knicks are looking to get something in return for Carmelo, which seriously hinders the Cavs’ chances.
They don’t want to swap Kevin Love for Carmelo one-for-one because they feel Love is more valuable and could fetch more in another deal.
The Cavs could try and send Iman Shumpert and Tristan Thompson to New York, though I don’t think the Knicks are interested in either of those players.
On the court the Cavs could use Carmelo as a small-ball power forward and involve him in pick-and-rolls with LeBron or Kyrie Irving. Think of how Carmelo played in the Olympics: this is exactly how the Cavs would want to use him.
Instead of using him in the post like the Knicks do, they would station him beyond the three-point arc and let him fire away.
Anthony is also a capable rebounder when he wants to be and could hurt the Golden State Warriors on the boards in a potential Finals rematch. The King is apparently working hard to bring Anthony to Northeast Ohio.
Houston Rockets
Houston has already had a huge offseason, bringing in Chris Paul, as well as role players P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute. Adding Carmelo would give them an extra offensive punch they will need to seriously challenge the Warriors.
Houston doesn’t want to part ways with Trevor Ariza but they might have to in order to get the deal done. Houston wants to unload the Ryan Anderson contract but the Knicks would have to be brain dead to accept that deal.
Anthony would fit nicely next to Paul and James Harden by playing off the ball in Mike D’Antoni’s system.
If they hold onto Ariza and Clint Capella, they will have a ton of versatile players that could cover up Carmelo’s defensive deficiencies.
Portland Trailblazers
Of all the teams rumored to be interested in ‘Melo, the Blazers are the most intriguing. The Blazers reportedly went after Paul George but found the price to be too high.
If they were able to land Carmelo he would give them the scoring from the wing they have long needed.
With Damian Lillard and McCollum dominating the ball and initiating the offense, the Blazers are looking for someone to take the scoring load off of them.
The Blazers could probably offer the Knicks the best deal centered around Al-Farouq Aminu and Moe Harkless, two wings who make less than $10 million per year.
The addition of Carmelo and a healthy Jusuf Nurkic could push the Blazers into the middle of the Western Conference.