For the second time this offseason, the Oklahoma City Thunder have seemingly come out of nowhere to make a trade that brought a superstar to town. This time, that star is Carmelo Anthony, who the Thunder acquired in a deal that sent Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott, and a draft pick to the Big Apple.
While there were reports that Anthony was open to getting traded to the Thunder, this is still a move that seemingly came out of left field, as Houston and Cleveland seemed to be the two teams that had pole position in the race to land the 10-time All-Star.
Because of that, the move came a shock to the basketball world, as NBA players took to Twitter to let everyone know they were stunned by this turn of events.
Wwwoooowwww 👀👀
— Isaiah Canaan (@SiP03) September 23, 2017
Like I said … The Association crazy lol
— C.J. Miles (@masfresco) September 23, 2017
Okay🤣I can't wait for this WEST😂 #Ripcity
— Jusuf Nurkić 🇧🇦 (@bosnianbeast27) September 23, 2017
OKC ain't took they foot off the gas since 09… 😳
— Jordan Crawford (@jcraw55) September 23, 2017
What a Saturday morning….
— Shelvin Mack (@ShelvinMack) September 23, 2017
Wait what🤔😂 https://t.co/33GjlFqjXd
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) September 23, 2017
Dope opportunity for melo
— malcolm delaney (@foe23) September 23, 2017
Sheeeshhhhhh
— Marcus Morris (@MookMorris2) September 23, 2017
https://twitter.com/youngwhiteside/status/911649958805278720
Two of Anthony’s new teammates, recent acquisitions Patrick Patterson and Paul George, used emojis to articulate their responses to the deal.
🤔
— Patrick Patterson (@pdpatt) September 23, 2017
⚡️⚡️⚡️
— Paul George (@Yg_Trece) September 23, 2017
A pair of players used the trade as a way to communicate with the Twittersphere. One of those players was Brandon Jennings, who was briefly teammates with Anthony last season and seems stoked about the move.
https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/911639037861142530
https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/911639616230477824
https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/911639283123068933
https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/911644570567479297
The other was C.J. McCollum, who had a vested interest in this move. As you may recall, Portland was viewed as one of the potential landing spots for Anthony, and McCollum teamed up with backcourt mate Damian Lillard to try and recruit Anthony to Rip City.
No trade clause. Means he has to agree to be traded. So not the front office fault. He chose to go to Oklahoma https://t.co/oIIkEXMEd9
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) September 23, 2017
😂😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/JUqnjgmueG
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) September 23, 2017
He was a rfa. Which means u go get a deal from another team & bring it back & ur team matches if they want u. If they dnt they let u walk https://t.co/HX2siKJdPd
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) September 23, 2017
Any grapes I eat will be hand picked and occasionally fed to me if I so choose to have them that way. https://t.co/XSYYfOK9mf
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) September 23, 2017
Western conference games gonna be like game of thrones battles against the white walkers
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) September 23, 2017
McCollum and Clippers guard Lou Williams both decided to show some love to Enes Kanter, who just a few days ago was spearheading the Thunder’s mini-fight against Kevin Durant because of the reigning Finals MVP’s antics on social media.
Kanter released a statement about his love for OKC and the organization … 4 days later he got traded. Stay woke, it's a business.
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) September 23, 2017
Always like that https://t.co/OoqCx2yz5h
— Lou Williams (@TeamLou23) September 23, 2017
But the best response came from Nets forward Trevor Booker, who thought this deal was important for reasons beyond basketball.
OKC just drowned out Trumps bum voice with this trade. I love it!!
— Trevor Booker (@35_Fitz) September 23, 2017
The NBA is always great, but it’s at its best when the entire league comes together to comment on something like a big trade. Anthony’s trade to the Thunder is the latest example of this.
