Carmelo Anthony Joins Russell Westbrook and Paul George as Knicks Trade Him to the Thunder
The Carmelo Anthony trade saga has finally come to an end. The 10-time All-Star's no longer a member of the New York Knicks, but he didn't end up joining the Houston Rockets like many thought he would.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report that the Knicks have agreed to trade Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-round pick. The deal will be finalized on Monday, and the All-Star forward will take a physical on Monday afternoon. He will be available when the Thunder starts their training camp on Tuesday.
Anthony will form a formidable trio alongside reigning National Basketball Association (NBA) most valuable player Russell Westbrook and perennial All-Star Paul George.
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"You put us three together, who all have something to prove still, (and) we're going to be a special team," George told USA Today.
The trade surprised a lot of people because the Rockets were supposed to be the favorites to land him, and the Cleveland Cavaliers was a likely destination as well if New York failed to complete a deal with Houston. However, both teams couldn't agree on a trade with the Knicks.
"New York had been willing to do an Anthony deal with his preferred choice, Houston, that included Eric Gordon and Trevor Ariza, but the Rockets consistently rejected that idea, league sources said," Wojnarowski said.
"Cleveland's package included Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye, and would've needed to be supplemented with minimum veterans, league sources said. Cleveland would never have considered including its 2018 first-round pick via Brooklyn, league sources said," he continued.
According to Joe Vardon of cleveland.com, the Knicks wanted the Cavaliers to include Tristan Thompson in the deal, but Cleveland refused to part ways with him.
The Portland Trail Blazers were also interested in acquiring him and they have the assets to swing a deal, but Wojnarowski has noted that Anthony just wasn't interested in joining them.
