Carmelo Anthony Trade Rumors: Miami Heat Trade With New York Knicks Discussed

Carmelo Anthony trade rumors have surfaced yet again. These Anthony trade rumors have the Miami Heat and New York Knicks working out a three-way deal with the Sacramento Kings. A report from December 16 on ESPN certainly has fans of the Knicks and Heat discussing the possibilities.

Now, the important thing to note is that Carmelo Anthony hasn’t asked for a trade, the New York Knicks aren’t trying to trade Anthony, and the Miami Heat haven’t opened negotiations to trade for Anthony. The rumors come from Chad Ford at ESPN, who has postulated that the All-Star forward might not want to stick around in New York as the franchise continues its rebuilding project.

It’s also important to point out that Chad Ford doesn’t claim that a trade is close to happening. What he does is offer up suggestions on a blockbuster deal that could help the Knicks continue to rebuild while simultaneously giving the Heat another impressive weapon.

“He has a no-trade clause and loves playing in New York, making a trade difficult. But he and Kristaps Porzingis are on different career timetables, and the Knicks need to think about the future. Turning Anthony into young players or draft picks would allow them to really rebuild.”

So, which players are involved in these Carmelo Anthony trade rumors? Ford postulates that the main components coming back to the New York Knicks would be Justise Winslow from the Miami Heat and Willie Cauley-Stein from the Sacramento Kings. The Kings would get Robin Lopez, a player who can help them in the short-term, and the Knicks would also take on players with equal salaries to make the deal possible. It would certainly re-shape the Knicks and Heat, while giving the Kings a keen defensive player with toughness to play alongside DeMarcus Cousins.

Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade have been friends off the court for a number of years, playing with each other as members of Team USA as well. Putting them on the same court with the Miami Heat could certainly make the team formidable, especially with Chris Bosh at power forward, Hassan Whiteside at center, and Goran Dragic at point guard. To make the salaries work in a trade, the Heat would need to give up Luol Deng, Chris Anderson, and likely Udonis Haslem as well. That could hurt the depth of the roster, but Anthony would certainly improve the offense.

For New York Knicks fans unfamiliar with Justise Winslow and Willie Cauley-Stein, both players were taken in the top 10 picks of the 2015 NBA Draft. Cauley-Stein is a center who played for Kentucky that the Sacramento Kings selected with the No. 6 overall pick. Winslow was a shooting guard at Duke who got selected by the Miami Heat with the No. 10 overall pick.

Through 20 games with the Kings, Cauley-Stein has only played 18.9 minutes per game (including 14 starts). He is averaging 4.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game. The 22-year-old center is expected to improve with development at the NBA level. As for Winslow, he has played in 24 games off the bench for the Heat. He averaged 28 minutes, 6.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists a night. Winslow is just 19 years old and only played one year at Duke before entering the NBA Draft.

There are components of this deal that would work well for the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, and Sacramento Kings. In New York, though, the team would lose its star power, leaving a roster of role players and young rookies trying to develop into stars. It could also put the franchise well under the salary cap to go after a free agent in the next NBA offseason. For now, these Carmelo Anthony trade rumors are nothing more than conjecture, but that could swiftly change if the Knicks struggle to put games in the win column this season.

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