If you haven’t noticed in recent days, the cat is out of the bag: the Knicks want to move on from Carmelo Anthony.
The hard part about that though is that Melo is one of three players in the NBA with a no trade clause in his contract, LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki are the other two.
That means pawning him off to a middling team for picks and assets is not an option, for any realistic deal for Carmelo, it must be a situation that he truly would have a desire to enter.
I have talked about how the Celtics are a perfect trade partner for a number of reasons (tons of assets and picks, need for a star to take the next big step) but a new possibility that seems realistic is on the table for Carmelo: The Los Angeles Clippers.
At first glance you may chuckle, knowing that the Clippers have already stated they would not trade any of their top three players for Carmelo, but according to a new report from New York Post Knicks Writer Frank Isola, that may not matter.
Here is an excerpt from his story on nydailynews.com on Thursday:
“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.
In order to do so the Clippers would have to trade approximately $27 million in salary to fit Anthony under their cap.
A Clippers deal for Anthony would likely include one or even two players from the group of Jamal Crawford, J.J. Redick or Austin Rivers, who is the son of Clippers head coach Doc Rivers.”
Isola says no deal is imminent and the Knicks will look for the better offer before the February 23 trade deadline, but the team is aware that Los Angeles is one of the few places Carmelo would likely be open to because of his relationship with Chris Paul and the fact that he owns a home in LA.
If Carmelo can become a better off-ball offensive weapon and allow Chris Paul to put him in favorable spots to be an elite scorer, this could be the perfect landing spot for Melo and could be exactly what the Clippers have been missing in their title pursuit for the past five seasons.
If the Knicks are really alright with a package of J.J Reddick, Austin Rivers and a few other players to make the money work, you could see a new big four in Los Angeles for at least the rest of the 2016-17 season.
