Thunder Rumors: Carmelo Anthony thought he was traded twice

Oklahoma City Thunder Rumors: Carmelo Anthony was traded to the Thunder right before training camp, but a lot had to fall through for that trade to happen.

Oklahoma City Thunder rumors have been quiet recently. The Thunder, however, were not, as they were actively making moves right up until training camp began. They completed their second blockbuster trade of the offseason days before training camp, acquiring Carmelo Anthony from the New York Knicks for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and 2018 second round pick.

It was the second time this offseason the Thunder, at least on paper, have fleeced a team for their superstar player. Right before free agency kicked off, the Thunder ended another trade saga, trading for Paul George.

In exchange for Goerge, the Thunder sent Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to the Indiana Pacers. However, Anthony revealed that he and George were close to being teammates during the NBA Draft, but not in Oklahoma City.

In an interview with Sirius XM Radio, via ESPN, Anthony revealed that he and George were close to being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"“Actually, it was funny because me and PG was supposed to be in Cleveland on draft night,” Anthony said. “We were communicating about that. The deal was actually done, and it got called off on draft night, so me and PG stayed connected throughout the course of the [offseason]. We never even talked about OKC, though.”"

Cleveland has seemingly been involved in some way with every superstar that was traded this offseason. They were eventually a part of a deal involving a high-level player, but it was them trading away Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics.

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The Cavaliers badly wanted to acquire George, a two-way superstar that would help them combat the Golden State Warriors. Anthony, who is a close friend of LeBron James, would have given them another bonafide scorer to make the Warriors think about.

Ultimately, that deal fell through. The Cavaliers thought they had a tentative deal done to acquire George from the Pacers prior to the draft, but that fell through, which seemed to kill their trade for Anthony as well.

It was a long offseason for Anthony. He outlasted Phil Jackson in New York, who was let go following the 2017 NBA Draft. As a result, the Knicks promoted Steve Mills to president of basketball operations and hired Scott Perry away from the Sacramento Kings.

The Knicks backed off from trading Anthony as the organization stabilized in the front office. However, that didn’t stop the trade chatter.

For the second time in the offseason, Anthony thought he was going to be traded away. This time, it was to the Houston Rockets. The Rockets, for a while, looked like the only place Anthony would end up.

After trading for Chris Paul, the Rockets were looking to form their own Big Three with James Harden already in place. They were dangling Ryan Anderson in trade talks, something the Knicks balked at. However, the two sides must have come to some sort of agreement, because Anthony was ready to pack his bags for Houston as well.

"“A deal was done with Houston early, then for some reason, whatever happened behind the scenes, it didn’t go through,” Anthony told SiriusXM Radio. “It fell through, then we had to really start paying attention and thinking about other options.”"

This all happened back in July. Anthony looked like he was going to be traded, but once again things fell apart at the last minute. Ultimately, he landed in a good spot with the Thunder. It was something Anthony knew had to happen eventually, as he felt his time in New York had come to an end.

"“I don’t think it would have been beneficial for me to come back to media day after everything that was going on in the offseason,” Anthony told SiriusXM. “For me to have to deal with that, it would have been unfair for the organization, the Knicks, to have to deal with that. It would have been too much noise, too many questions to answer, and I don’t think either party wanted to deal with that.”"

The trade ended what was a roller coaster ride for Anthony in New York. The Knicks fell short of expectations with Anthony on the team, but that blame cannot be solely placed on Anthony. There has been a lot wrong with the Knicks in the years Anthony was with the team, such as organizational instability and the inability to put a competitive roster around him.

Next: How The Thunder Can Incorporate Carmelo Anthony Into Lineup

That is all behind Anthony now, as he has moved on to the Thunder. As the old saying goes, the third time is the charm. Anthony is hoping that rings true and that he can find some success alongside his Team USA running mates, Russell Westbrook and Paul George.

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