NBA Trade Rumors: Clippers And Knicks Seeking Third Team To Complete Carmelo Anthony Deal — Who Will Land In New York?
It has been blatantly obvious that the relationship between Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks is damaged beyond repair. With the Feb. 23 NBA trade deadline less than a month away, the saga of trying to trade the disgruntled forward continues to drag on. Teams like the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers have tried, but nothing has worked out there. Now, the L.A. Clippers are ready to deal, but they need one more team to complete the trade.
According to ESPN, the Knicks and Clippers are working together and looking for a third team to join them in making the Carmelo Anthony trade work out. The only thing really known about this deal is that Los Angeles would get ‘Melo and not have to give up one of their big three: Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, or Blake Griffin.
Talks between the two teams have gained some steam in the last week as the Clippers continue to show interest in getting Carmelo. As of now, he still has two years and around $53 million remaining on his contract with New York.
Other trade talks and possibilities have been thrown around, but none of them have worked out.
Knicks have reportedly reached out to Celtics and Clippers about a trade for Carmelo Anthony. pic.twitter.com/mNEN50Jmk9
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 26, 2017
The Celtics Blog did report that the Knicks reached out to the Boston Celtics about a trade and at first, it wasn’t known if Carmelo Anthony would end up in green and white. At 27-18, the Celtics currently hold the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference and could get a good boost from Anthony to compete with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the top seed.
On the other hand, there were also conversations between the New York Knicks and the Cavaliers about a trade involving ‘Melo and Kevin Love. New York wanted to simply make a trade for the two players, but the Cavs weren’t having it.
Those discussions were simply preliminary trade talks and nothing that ever got to a serious point of seeing what options are available. The official website of the NBA said that the Cavaliers simply flat-out rejected the trade offer made to them by the Knicks.
Knicks reportedly offer Carmelo Anthony-for-Kevin Love but Cavs are not interested. What could’ve been… pic.twitter.com/wskhh61Qz5
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 25, 2017
Going back to the Clippers and Knicks trying to get a trade for Anthony worked out, an injury to Chris Paul has complicated matters. Paul recently injured his thumb and that has Los Angeles hesitant to trade away J.J. Redick, Jamal Crawford, or Austin Rivers as they need all their guards right now.
New York wasn’t very fond of trading for Crawford anyway as he has three years and $42 million from the Clippers to take on if a team brings him in.
No matter where discussions may go, it could all be for nothing if Carmelo doesn’t like it. He has a full no-trade clause in his contract and he would have to sign off on any deal the New York Knicks may find for him. If the Knicks tell him “they want to go in a different direction,” he has said he would be willing to waive that clause.
Obviously, the Knicks are looking at a different direction. While it’s true that they need a third team for this to work, it appears the Celtics and Cavs won’t be that squad, but many other NBA teams may be willing to jump in.
Carmelo Anthony still has plenty to offer a team and he could be the missing piece of the puzzle for a team needing that little extra something to get into the playoffs. The Los Angeles Clippers were able to work out something with the New York Knicks that saw them not having to lose any of their big three, but they need help. It isn’t known who will join in on the three-team trade, but there is a good chance that someone is going to bite before the deadline.
[Featured Image by Maddie Meyer/Getty Image]
