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NBA Trade Rumors: Carmelo Anthony Could Be Joining LeBron James, Kevin Love To Boston In Proposed Mega-Deal

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 15:22 PST, Feb 14, 2016

The NBA trade rumors are swirling surrounding Carmelo Anthony, with reports that the New York Knicks forward could be joining LeBron James in Cleveland as part of an Eastern Conference mega-trade that would also send Kevin Love to the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics and Cavaliers have reportedly been discussing a trade for Kevin Love, and the New York Daily News reported that those talks expanded to include the New York Knicks. That leg of the deal would included Carmelo Anthony joining the Cavaliers, with the Knicks getting big man Timofey Mozgov and a number of draft picks in return.

Though there were rumors late in the week the that NBA super trade was losing steam, the New York Daily News noted that Carmelo Anthony was less than positive about his future in New York.

“Not yet. I’m pretty sure I’ll have that conversation with myself and my family and my team,” he said. “But it’s not a conversation for right now.”

Anthony also made reference to the idea of playing with one of his friends, noting that it’s not always a possibility. There had been rumors over the last several years that Carmelo and LeBron James had discussed finding a way to play together as part of the talks that led LeBron to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami.

“I think everybody kind of dreams and hopes that they can play with another great player, another star player. It’s a star player’s league. I think that’s what we talk about when we all get together — ‘I want to play with you, I want to play with you.’ Even here different guys say, ‘Come play with me, come play with me.’ So that’s always the mindset. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it don’t. But I think everybody that’s in my situation, that’s in my position, they all want the load off especially the older they get. Because you realize you just can’t do it all by yourself. Everybody knows that.”

The NBA trade rumors seem murky, especially given all the moving parts involved. In order to swing Carmelo Anthony to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Cavs would also have to change course on Kevin Love. The big man had reportedly been on the block, but the Cavs appeared to swing back to the idea of keeping him.

Love had greatly improved under new coach Tyronn Lue, who has better utilized his abilities. General manager David Griffin seemed to be leaning toward keeping Love, telling ESPN 850-AM that the team’s best chance to compete for a title was with Love on the roster.

“You’d have to go a long way to convince me that we’re a better team winning in the Finals without a player like Kevin on our team,” Griffin said. “We’ve never once put together an offer involving Kevin, nor have we taken a call on an offer for Kevin.

“We think very highly of Kevin, and we believe Kevin thinks very highly of this situation… But I can also tell you that we have been very clear from the beginning that there’s no such thing as untouchables.”

There are also plenty of denials of the proposed trade, including from LeBron James himself.

The Daily News report noted that Carmelo Anthony could still be leaving the New York Knicks, despite his statements claiming otherwise. If the deal with the Cavaliers can’t go through, the Los Angeles Clippers could be another option as Anthony owns a home in Los Angeles and is close with Chris Paul.

If the NBA trade rumors are true and Carmelo Anthony is heading to the Cleveland Cavaliers, there are just a few more days to make it happen. The NBA trade deadline is Thursday, and without any major action so far, the movement is expected to pick up quickly this week.

[Picture by Christian Petersen/Getty Images]

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