Carmelo Anthony is willing to make some concessions as long as it gets him out of New York, but it’s more complicated than just waving a trade clause and wearing red and white next year.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Thursday that Anthony is willing to waive a trade kicker clause that would save his new potential team a good chunk of money, but it’s still not enough to make this an easy deal for Houston to swing.
“My sources tell me he’s willing to waive the trade kicker, which is worth around $8 million,” Wojnarowski told Rachel Nichols on The Jump. “So that makes a little easier for Houston to do a trade.”
The reason no deal has been done yet, though, is the return for the Knicks and also what the Rockets give up to get back under the cap. Too many players/contracts can leave Houston with weak depth, and other expiring contracts (or maybe Ryan Anderson’s 3-year, $60 million deal) aren’t enough for the Knicks to get excited unless draft picks are included in the deal. After a deal for Chris Paul earlier in the summer, it’s a tough place for Houston to be in with regards to the future of the franchise.
Meanwhile, Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are publicly lobbying for Anthony to consider playing in Portland. Lillard went as far as to warn Golden State that they’d have tough competition in the Trail Blazeres if Anthony were willing to accept a trade to PDX, though Draymond Green quickly shot that down.
The Blazers can lobby all they want, though, as right now Anthony only wants to go to Houston or Cleveland. Problem is, the Cavs still don’t have a GM and haven’t moved much on a trade for Melo, and Houston hasn’t made the numbers work on a trade that gets them under the cap once more.
And so we wait.
