With the Cleveland Cavaliers two losses away from falling to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, the Carmelo Anthony speculation was bound to start up again. We can already guess that the Cavaliers will explore making substantial changes if they get flounced in the championship round, and Anthony’s relationship with LeBron James makes him the easy, if lazy, talking point in NBA circles.
As one anonymous NBA GM told the New York Post‘s Marc Berman, though, this isn’t a realistic, or even fruitful, pursuit for the Cavaliers—or, for that the matter, the New York Knicks:
Cavaliers GM David Griffin refused to even think of parting with the younger Love for Anthony in the winter, but Griffin might be gone soon because his contract is up and he’s reportedly getting interest from the Bucks. But another general manager would have a difficult time dealing for Anthony if Love is not part of the package. The over-the-cap Cavaliers don’t have even first-round picks to peddle and Anthony’s trade kicker balloons his pact to more than $33 million.
“I don’t see any trade of Melo to the Cavs that makes them better and that the Knicks would agree to,’’ one NBA GM said.
It doesn’t make sense for the Knicks to just trade Melo for the sake of trading him. His value has plummeted, but he carries cachet as a scorer, and there’s little reason to add salary when he’ll probably become a free agent in 2018 (early termination option). At the same time, it would be ludicrous for the Cavaliers to give up Kevin Love in exchange for an aging scorer who doesn’t move the needle against the Warriors. Anthony is intriguing as a small-ball 4 who probably won’t go through cold streaks if he’s being used predominantly as a spot-up shooter, but he isn’t going to help the Cavaliers defend Kevin Durant or Draymond Green.
If the Cavaliers could get Anthony without touching their Big Three, then maybe it makes sense. But, again, there’s zero chance said deal would then make sense for the Knicks. Add in a third and fourth team that can help grease the wheels, and maybe you’ve got something. If not, well, we should be expecting the Cavaliers to aim bigger anyway. Lose to the Warriors in unconvincing fashion, and it’s more likely they try using Love or Kyrie Irving as bait in a Jimmy Butler or Paul George trade.
