Carmelo Anthony could be leaving New York after all, with new NBA trade rumors connecting the All-Star forward to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Over the summer, the Blazers were one of the teams consistently mentioned in the trade mix for Anthony, who seems destined to play for a new team next season after a public falling-out with the Knicks front office. Blazers teammates Damian Lilliard and C.J. McCollum made some public pitches for Anthony to head out west, and Anthony (who had a no-trade clause that he would have to waive) was reportedly open to the idea.
Those rumors died down a bit as the summer dragged on, but have now come back to the fore. A report from Sporting News noted that Anthony still appeared open to the idea of joining Portland, and NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reinforced the idea. In a recent episode of the Woj Pod , Portland is hoping that Anthony will be willing to waive his no-trade clause. Wojnarowski noted that the Houston Rockets, the team most active in trade talks with the Knicks, just didn’t have the pieces necessary to finish a deal.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe also noted that Portland is more active in wanting to land Carmelo Anthony than most people realize.
“[I] think Portland — I mean you, you’ve been on the nose about Portland ahead of everybody but I think Portland wants Melo like way, like even more than people — like Portland, really really wants to get Melo,” Lowe said (via Sporting News ).
Just prior to the reports that the Portland Trail Blazers were back in the trade mix, there were indications that Carmelo Anthony was ready to start to season in New York. The Daily Knick reported that Carmelo Anthony was keeping up with his teammates who were competing in EuroBasket 2017 and has been participating in some high-profile pickup games (while donning a hoodie) with his Knicks teammates. The report noted that it could be an indication that Anthony is open to remaining in New York, though not clear for just how long.
Hoodie Melo. Believe the hype! @carmeloanthony pic.twitter.com/l1HNZFx4la
— Scottie Pippen (@ScottiePippen) September 8, 2017
“The question is: Have Hernangomez, Kuzminskas, and Porzingis done enough to convince Anthony to stay with the Knicks in 2017-18?” the report posed.
Carmelo Anthony played alongside James Harden and Chris Paul in some pickup games on Monday ? https://t.co/UHEtYrh75j pic.twitter.com/Wml5hNURiL
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) September 11, 2017
There could also still be some heat to the original trade that would have sent Anthony out of New York. Over the summer, the Knicks and Houston Rockets almost completed a three-team deal that would have sent Anthony to Texas, but it fell apart at the last minute. Ian Begley of ESPN reported that the discussions could be back on, with the Milwaukee Bucks joining talks and Jabari Parker now part of the three-team trade.
[Featured Image by Al Bello/Getty Images]
