Imagine you’re sitting on Twitter and you read the phrase “Carmelo Anthony has been traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.” You’d automatically assume that, if this happens, it would mean L.A. would need to split with one of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, or DeAndre Jordan, right?
As it turns out, the two sides are reportedly talking about a deal that would send Anthony out west. The catch, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, is that the Clippers wouldn’t need to give up any of their three stars.
The Knicks and Clippers are discussing a deal for Carmelo Anthony that does not include Chris Paul, Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan going to New York, the Daily News has learned.
The Knicks, according to a source, are open to trading Anthony to Los Angeles even if they don’t get one of the Clippers’ Big 3 in return.
In fact, the Knicks are prohibited from acquiring Blake Griffin due to a complicated rule in the collective bargaining agreement. The rule states that a team cannot have two Designated Rookie Max extensions on your roster acquired via a trade at any time. Derrick Rose falls under that category.
Now it’s important to remember that this is just a rumor, and of all the deals we’ve heard involving Anthony, this is probably the most absurd. Isola mentioned that Los Angeles could, realistically, propose a deal that involves splitting with two of Jamal Crawford, Austin Rivers, and J.J. Redick, along with a few other pieces.
While Phil Jackson does seem like he’s eager to move on from Anthony (ok, that’s an understatement), it’s hard to imagine that he’d go from pursuing Kevin Love to accepting a trade for role players. In fact, Isola said that “the Knicks will likely seek a better offer” with the deadline being a little less than a month away.
If the Knicks are seriously looking into deals like this with any seriousness, it is a testament to how badly the organization wants to move on from Melo. Of course, he still has to waive his no-trade clause, and it’s still up in the air whether he wants to stay in New York or not. But no matter what, this seems like it’s the closest that the Knicks have come to actually dealing their star forward. It’s going to be a crazy, rumor-filled month in New York City.
(Via New York Daily News)
