NBA Trade Rumors: 10 Potential Carmelo Anthony Trades
Honorable Mentions
Atlanta Hawks:
The Atlanta Hawks get an upgrade at small forward over the underwhelming Kent Bazemore, which might help them convince Paul Millsap to re-sign this summer if there’s enough floor-spacing between Melo and Millsap to make that frontcourt with Dwight Howard work.
The Knicks get a younger small forward, a quality albeit injury-prone center in Tiago Splitter to make Joakim Noah expendable and future first-rounders to help with the rebuild. Unfortunately, the Hawks may prefer flexibility to going all in on a Melo-Millsap-Howard Big Three, and Splitter’s injury history might make this offer more enticing on paper than in real life.
Charlotte Hornets:
By adding Melo, the Charlotte Hornets take the next step in the Eastern Conference and hope Steve Clifford’s defense can cover for his deficiencies on that end. They have to part with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Jeremy Lamb and Frank Kaminsky, but they get a superstar scorer to help their 14th ranked offense.
The Knicks get a young defensive stud in MKG, wing depth with Lamb and another young, underrated player in Kaminsky. But New York might prefer future draft picks to three young but flawed players, and the Hornets may prefer to take a more patient, defensively oriented approach than going all in on a Big Three of Melo, Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum.
Cleveland Cavaliers:
LeBron James himself shot down this idea as “fantasy basketball,” so it’s highly unlikely to see a deal like this. But since the Knicks reached out to the Cleveland Cavaliers about this potential Kevin Love swap, we might as well mention it.
The Cavs are currently in a rut and LeBron and Melo have always wanted to play together. However, Love is the better fit within the offense for his three-point shooting (36.4 percent for his career to Melo’s 34.6 percent), he’s younger and he’s having the better season. This would make far more sense for New York than the defending champs.
Miami Heat:
The Miami Heat have been looking to trade Goran Dragic, and though it’d probably take someone like Tyler Johnson to sweeten the deal, the Knicks need a point guard and might not want to pay to re-sign Derrick Rose over the summer. Though he’s 30 years old, Dragic would be locked in through at least 2018-19, with a player option for 2019-20.
The Knicks would get a new starting point guard and a promising combo guard in Johnson, while the Heat have the 4 and 5 set in stone with Melo and Hassan Whiteside. But if the Heat are trading Dragic, it’ll be to rebuild, not to retool, and the Knicks might not feel they’re getting enough in this deal if they’re even considering re-signing D-Rose.
Orlando Magic:
The Orlando Magic are desperate to return to the playoffs, Serge Ibaka is a free agent this summer and the team has been looking for scoring. Trading for Carmelo Anthony accomplishes that, even if Evan Fournier would have to be attached (and the Knicks may even push for Elfrid Payton too).
The Knicks get a young and talented guard in Fournier and a direct replacement for Melo in Serge Ibaka, who they would attempt to re-sign over the summer. But the Knicks may not want to deal with his upcoming free agency and might believe they could find a better trade package elsewhere. Plus, Melo’s no-trade clause could come into play if he didn’t want to play for a non-playoff team like Orlando.
Los Angeles Lakers:
Melo has a summer home in Los Angeles, so the destination might be enough to get him to waive his no-trade clause despite being sent to a non-contender. The Los Angeles Lakers say they’re rebuilding, but with a promising season under Luke Walton taking a drastic turn for the worse, how long before impatience sets in?
This deal wouldn’t gut the Lakers of their young core, which might not be good enough for the Knicks without some enticing future draft picks attached. Would Jordan Clarkson and future picks be enough to sweeten a less than enticing pot of Nick Young and Jose Calderon? Would Melo even consider this destination? And would the Lakers abandon the rebuild so soon? It all feels unlikely.
Oklahoma City Thunder:
Victor Oladipo, Enes Kanter and Steven Adams are all nice, young players, but Russell Westbrook is definitely lacking a fellow superstar. This trade brings one to the Oklahoma City Thunder, albeit at the cost of an extremely efficient sixth man in Kanter and a promising young rookie in Domantas Sabonis.
The Knicks get two young players, but that might not be enough without draft picks attached. They may also prefer a future point guard prospect like Cameron Payne to Sabonis, but either way, would Melo waive his no-trade clause to head to a tougher conference where he, Russ, Oladipo and Adams probably wouldn’t be enough to make the Thunder title contenders anyway?