NBA Trade Rumors: Carmelo Anthony On The Move For Knicks, Celtics, Cavs In Picture?

The New York Knicks now find themselves at the center of a flood of NBA trade rumors, most of them revolving around superstar forward and perennial All-Star Carmelo Anthony.

Off to uneven 3-5 start and already trailing LeBron James and the front-running Cleveland Cavaliers in the East by four games, reports are the Knicks could be considering trading away their team captain to the conference rival Boston Celtics.

With the Knicks ranked ahead of only Boston, Portland, Indiana, and Phoenix in team defense, president Phil Jackson is thought to be mulling a plan that would see the Knicks commit to a total rebuilding effort, taking back promising rookie forward Jaylen Brown and young veteran guard Avery Bradley as part of a trade package for Anthony.

Meanwhile, the Celtics are thought to be giddy about the prospect of landing Anthony, a nine-time All-Star, whom they envision teaming with Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford in a veteran-laden lineup that could ultimately challenge the Cavs for conference supremacy.

Presently, Anthony tops the Knicks in scoring (21.4 ppg) and ranks third in rebounding (5.6). He has reigned as the franchise’s top scorer for five straight seasons.

In making such a move, the Knicks would effectively be slamming the door n a plan that the Celts appear poised to wholeheartedly embrace after just 10 games. Jackson traded for former league MVP Derrick Rose and signed former All-Star center Joakim Noah over the summer.

Later, the Knicks also added veterans Brandon Jennings and Courtney Lee. The much-celebrated moves were enough to have Rose branding the Knicks a “super team,” ready to challenge James and the Cavs and even the new “Big 4” in Golden State of Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.

Rose recently doubled down on his boast, insisting “I have a lot of confidence, and I’m not taking that back.”

But that was before the Knicks started out at 3-5, along the way showing few early signs of any real team cohesion or mental toughness. Rose too has been the subject of various trade rumors and can become a free agent next summer after just one season in a Knicks’ uniform.

The way Jackson sees it part of the Knicks troubles stem from their reluctance to regularly make use of his famed triangle offense. Jackson is rumored to have recently dressed down rookie coach Jeff Hornacek over the team’s growing habit of running away from the triangle.

Around that same time, the team announced assistant coach Kurt Rambis would be taking over as the point man for the team’s struggling defense.
With all indications Anthony could be had for the right price, word is the Cavs could also be interested and may be willing to offer up veteran forward Kevin Love.

Though Love and the Cavs found a way to rally from a 3-1 finals deficit to dethrone the Warriors last season, many around the league still lament he is far from a perfect complement to James and all-star guard Kyrie Irving.
All the tension currently engulfing the Knicks seem to come to a boil during their recent 110-87 blowout loss to the Celtics when Anthony and Jennings were both ejected for arguing with officials. On the night, the Knicks amassed six technicals as a team.

“We were getting blown out,” said Jennings.

“I felt like we got punked tonight. I was just frustrated.”

Noah seemed to feel the same way.

“Nobody wants to be embarrassed,” he said.

“To lose like this sucks. We gotta get better, we gotta get better defensively, we gotta get better at executing and we gotta learn.”

What actually comes next for the Knicks seems anyone’s guess.

[Featured Image by Michael Reaves/Getty Images]