Anthony has been encouraging the Knicks to show urgency in their pursuit of a trade before the season, league sources said. The Knicks made a preliminary call to the Cavaliers on Monday, but the two sides haven’t exchanged trade ideas, league sources told ESPN. Cleveland has to weigh the fact that Anthony, with two years and $54 million left on his contract, could opt into the $27.9 million in the final year of his deal for 2018-19 — when LeBron James could be gone in free agency and Cleveland might be embarking on a rebuild.
NBA Rumor: Carmelo Anthony to Cavaliers?
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The Knicks are expected to engage both Cleveland and Oklahoma City on Saturday in hopes of completing a Carmelo Anthony trade by the beginning of training camp on Tuesday, according to league sources. Anthony expanded his list of teams to which he’d accept a trade this week to include the Cavaliers and Thunder, after limiting his choice of teams to the Rockets all summer. Anthony has a no-trade clause in his contract and would have to agree to be sent to a team before New York could consummate any deal.
Carmelo Anthony has expanded the list of teams he’s willing to play for, which now includes the Cleveland Cavaliers, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
The Cavs and Knicks have only had cursory discussions, and there are currently no parameters of a deal. The Cavs aren’t interested in including the No. 1 pick they recently acquired from the Boston Celtics in the blockbuster Kyrie Irving trade.
Anthony has been urging the Knicks to show urgency in their pursuit of a trade before the season, league sources said. The Knicks made a preliminary call to the Cavaliers on Monday, but the two sides haven’t exchanged trade ideas, league sources told ESPN.
Although Anthony still desires Houston as a destination, the Knicks have not budged on their stance to reject the Rockets’ offer of Ryan Anderson and his large contract. The Knicks, according to a source, believe Anthony is amenable to joining the Cavs as an alternative, to play with buddy LeBron James for the three-time defending Eastern Conference champs.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Story filed to ESPN: Carmelo Anthony has expanded the list of teams with which he’d accept a trade — including the Cleveland Cavaliers.
With Phil Jackson gone, it’s not as farfetched for the Knicks to consider taking back Iman Shumpert, who had been looking at a change of scenery, too. Shumpert was the Knicks’ first-round pick in 2011. Still, many league sources believe the salary-cap mathematics for an Anthony trade still will be tough to pull off with Cleveland.
Stephen A. Smith: Melo has told James Dolan he wants out. He doesn’t want to be with the New York Knicks anymore. He thinks the time has come for a change. His preference would be in Houston. That’s not the only place he could go. Cleveland is still a possibility despite reports to the contrary.
Phil Jackson is out as president, but the franchise’s strategy hasn’t changed much. A stalemate has ensued as sources indicate Anthony only wishes to waive his no-trade clause to go to the Rockets. Not even Cleveland, which is in turmoil, is good enough for Anthony as the Cavaliers are dealing with Kyrie Irving’s trade demand.
The Knicks would love nothing more than to use Carmelo Anthony plus two picks to make a deal happen. Unfortunately, the Cavs don’t seem to have much interest in Melo, who like LeBron and Kevin Love is another power forward. Also, according to a source close to a Anthony, his primary objective is to get moved to Houston. His camp is optimistic that a deal with the Rockets is going to happen.
There has been no indication the Cavs are considering trading Irving to the Knicks, and two sources said Cleveland wouldn’t trade for Anthony at all.
Anthony, 33, has been willing to waive his no-trade clause for Houston and Cleveland, however, and in recent weeks has been focused on a trade to join fellow All-Stars Chris Paul and James Harden with the NBA power Rockets, ESPN.com has reported. The Anthony-to-Rockets talks have stalled with Perry’s hiring since the newcomer would like to survey the situation before making a move, a source said.
After talking with the Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers for nearly a month to help engineer deals for Anthony, the Knicks told both teams that they’re stepping back from trade talks for a short time, league sources said.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Story posting soon with @RamonaShelburne on ESPN: The Knicks have paused Carmelo Anthony trade talks with Houston and Cleveland.
Stephen A. Smith: Update @Espngreeny. Found out last night Melo would accept buyout to go to @cavs, too. To @HoustonRockets? Would possibly be via trade!
Keith Britton: .@ChrisBHaynes on @BullandFox re: Carmelo “If he gets a buyout, it’s a pretty foregone conclusion from what I’m told, it would be Cleveland”
Marc Stein: But league sources say that the Knicks have thus far resisted the idea of a Melo buyout that would clear the way for him to join the Cavs
The Cavaliers? “Longshot,” one exec said. Unless LeBron James pushes for such a move, Anthony landing in Cleveland is unlikely.
The Cavs are trying to use a trade exception that expires Monday and also continue to explore the very slight possibility of acquiring Carmelo Anthony by Thursday’s deadline. The trade exception, left over from trading Anderson Varejao last season, is worth about $4.4 million.
Anthony holds a no-trade clause and it’s unclear he would waive it (he has said he wants to stay in New York). Also, his salary is so high the Cavs would need to part with several roster players and likely find a third team. They have said privately they do not intend to trade the injured Kevin Love to the Knicks for Anthony.
But the Knicks — and more to the point, team president Phil Jackson — may be so desperate to move him by Thursday (as an aside, the Cavs and Knicks play each other that night in Cleveland), there is a feeling inside the league that they would way offers for lesser players from teams, including potentially the Cavs.
Some saw a possible chance for desperation in Cleveland, where Kevin Love is lost for six weeks with a knee injury and subsequent surgery. Some around the league feel the Cavs, if indeed interested, might try to wait it out and hope for a bargain if the Knicks really are intent on moving Anthony, and he wants to play with buddy LeBron James and waives his no-trade. The Knicks haven’t really driven up his value, either, with negative tweets and public criticisms from Phil Jackson.
Anthony has privately told teammates, too: He refuses to let Jackson run him out of the Knicks. The Knicks have contacted three teams – the Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers – about possible Anthony trades. The Clippers and Cavaliers have interest, but only in cobbling together packages that include role players, league sources told The Vertical.
Anthony has privately indicated an interest in listening to trades to those three teams, but the Knicks have been unable to find a trade package that they’re willing to accept, sources said. The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 23.
Sources told Stein and Shelburne the Cavaliers maintain an interest in Anthony, but only if a deal can be struck without the Cavs surrendering Love. Anthony has a no-trade clause and would need to waive it before any deal can be consummated.
ESPN Cleveland: Isola: I understand why LeBron was mad. I was surprised how personal and nasty he got. #Cavs
ESPN Cleveland: Isola: I personally wouldn’t trade Kevin Love for Carmelo Anthony, straight up. #Cavs
League sources did say that the Cavs did initially express interest in Anthony if the cost in trade were lower, but that nothing new has been discussed in some time and that the team is not looking for a deal for Anthony. They are looking to bolster their bench for a title run this year and have been exploring options to add a big man to their bench and a point guard for depth.
Sam Amick: Addendum to @Jeff Zillgitt story: person close to LeBron James also adamantly denying Cavs star is willing to lose Kevin Love in a ‘Melo deal
LeBron James pushing for a Melo trade?
Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony apparently do have something in common: LeBron James as an ally. According to a league source, LeBron is the one pushing the Cleveland Cavaliers front office to acquire Carmelo even if it means trading Kevin Love, which is something Cavs management is opposed to doing. Jackson is hoping to move Anthony prior to the Feb. 23 trading deadline and one player the Knicks have targeted is Love, who had 23 points with 16 rebounds in Cleveland’s win over the Knicks last Saturday.
Any deal for Anthony would require the Knicks’ leading scorer to waive his no-trade clause and the consensus is that Anthony would agree to play for the defending champs and his long-time friend LeBron.
The Cavs could look to recruit a third team but Cleveland is in no hurry to part with Love, an All-Star this season who is also younger than Anthony and serves a specific role on the team. And while Cleveland doesn’t want to alienate the NBA’s best player, the Cavs do have James under contract through the 2017-18 season.
Regarding Anthony, there are rumors that the Knicks have tried to deal him to the Cavs for Kevin Love. And, of course, James has a lot of sway with the front office and . But he certainly hasn’t openly campaigned for Carmelo to join Cleveland. “I just want the best for my brother. And whatever case may rest for his future, if he’s here or elsewhere, I just want him to be happy,” James said.
I mention this because the New York Knicks keep trying to deal Carmelo Anthony for Love. They also are keeping that rumor alive because they are looking to trade Anthony to other teams.
Knicks still interested in Kevin Love
The New York Knicks continue to pursue Kevin Love in advance of the Feb. 23 trade deadline despite the Cleveland Cavaliers’ unwillingness to part with the All-Star forward in a deal for Carmelo Anthony, according to league sources. Sources said the Cavaliers, meanwhile, do maintain an interest in Anthony — which would pair him with Cleveland star and close friend LeBron James — but only if a deal can be struck without the league’s reigning champions surrendering Love.
ESPN Cleveland: Windhorst: I don’t think we have heard the last of Carmelo Anthony and the #Cavs.
ESPN Cleveland: Windhorst: Tristan Thompson is more unmovable than Kevin Love, in my opinion but Love isn’t a player you can easily find. #Cavs
The Knicks reportedly have had conversations with the Clippers, Cavaliers and Celtics. The belief is it would be difficult for Anthony to turn down an opportunity to play with his good friends Chris Paul with the Clippers or LeBron James with the Cavaliers.
Anthony said he hasn’t told the front office that he would only be willing to go to certain teams. But he and his superstar friends have talked about that happening at some point, and they’re playing for contenders, so it could be even more appealing. “Those considerations and thoughts will always be,” Anthony said. “That’s something we all think about as athletes, try to play with another. We talk about it from high school and college. These are conversations that we’ve had years before any of this ever came up.”
The Knicks have also continued to try to assemble a workable trade that the Cleveland Cavaliers would consider for Anthony after ESPN.com first reported earlier this week that the Cavs rebuffed Anthony-for-Kevin Love proposals.
Armed with a hope that Carmelo Anthony will eventually waive his no-trade clause, the New York Knicks have reached out to the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers to probe their interest in a trade, league sources told The Vertical.
ESPN Cleveland: Brian Windhorst: “LeBron has an interest in playing with Carmelo Anthony, but he knows you can’t trade Kevin Love for him.”
A couple hours before the ESPN report surfaced — and in the wake of LeBron James openly demanding another playmaker on the roster — Anthony was asked if he was the intended target of his buddy’s rant. “I do think he would want me to play with him. I don’t think he wouldn’t,” Anthony said. “But I don’t know if that comment is about me. I don’t think I’m the only playmaker in the NBA.”
Anthony Tolliver: If you were the GM of the Cavs would you make the Love for Melo trade? – Yes! Back to b…
The Knicks’ thinking, sources said, is that they would have gone to Anthony to discuss waiving his no-trade clause had Cleveland shown interest in the deal. Anthony is one of only three NBA players with a full-no trade clause in his contract, alongside Cleveland’s LeBron James and the Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki.
Although James and Anthony are incredibly close and have both expressed interest in playing together someday, sources say Cleveland is not prepared to surrender Love to get Anthony after the role Love played in helping the Cavaliers win the first championship in franchise history in June.
“You ask me a question if he thinks I’d want to play with him?’’ Anthony said. “Yes. I do think he’d want me to play with him. I don’t think he wouldn’t. But I don’t know if that comment was about me. I don’t think I’m the only playmaker in the NBA.’’ Asked by The Post if he wanted to play in Cleveland, Anthony said, “I don’t think about it – not something I think about right now. As far as playing with him, I don’t think about that. I can’t think about that. You know I’m not thinking about that.”
Asked if he got the sense that management wanted him to stay with the Knicks, Anthony said: “It was a quick meeting. That’s all I can say.”
Anthony did not rule out leaving the Knicks to maximize his chances to win a championship at some point. He is due to make $26.2 million next season and has a player option for $27.9 million in 2018-19, the final season of his contract with the Knicks. “I don’t think it would be called kind of chasing a ring,” Anthony said of potentially leaving to join a contender. “I think it would be looking at opportunities and situations, if and when that time [does] come. I think it would be a collective effort on all fronts, not just mine. I think it would be a collective effort on the organization and understanding the direction that they want to go.”
Carmelo Anthony wouldn’t be satisfied if his career ends without a championship, but acknowledges he’s facing a different kind of urgency than friend LeBron James. “I’m in a different situation than him,” Anthony said Wednesday about James and his recently stated urgency to win a title now. “He’s won. He’s just coming off of a championship, so for him to say he’ll be 33 and doesn’t have time to wait, he must have a different type of plan, a different goal, a different mindset of winning now and taking advantage of it.”
Stephen A. Smith: The New York Knicks want to get rid of Carmelo Anthony. They want to get rid of him bad. They are willing to take Kevin Love, who’s had back injuries, knee injuries… I mean, Lord knows whatever. Body is supposedly breaking down.
Charley Rosen’s piece for FanRag Sports stated “it’s understood” Anthony would only accept a trade to the Clippers and Cavaliers and possibly the Lakers. The Cavaliers, sources close to the situation indicated, are so far over the cap, putting them in a horrible luxury-tax situation, that a deal would seem highly improbable, even if Anthony may want to one day play with his buddies LeBron James and J.R. Smith.
LeBron asked for Melo acquisition?
If you’re looking for a path to making it happen, sure, theoretically it’s possible. And since James can be a free agent this summer, he could take that pay cut sooner than expected. The New York Daily News reported during the All-Star break the Cavs, Celtics and Knicks discussed a three-team deal that would send Kevin Love to Boston and bring Anthony to Cleveland. Those reports were quickly refuted, although one source with knowledge of the situation said this week James has indeed previously pitched the idea to Cavs management of somehow bringing Anthony to Cleveland. That would require Anthony waiving his no-trade clause.
Carmelo Anthony hasn’t had much to smile about professionally this season, but something that makes him chuckle is seeing his name linked to the Clippers, Cavaliers and other teams. “I laugh it off,” he said. “Just laugh it off. People always try to make scenarios, and situations, but nothing has happened.”
There was even a report Friday night Boston and Cleveland had “very preliminary talks’’ about whether to ask the Knicks if they wanted to join a three-way trade with Anthony that included Kevin Love, with Anthony going to Cleveland. An NBA source told The Post the Knicks had not been approached by the teams, and there was “nothing to it.” The report also stated talks did not progress.
Celtics, Cavs discussing Kevin Love trade?
The Daily News has learned that the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers have discussed a blockbuster trade centered around Kevin Love. There were very preliminary discussions about expanding the deal to include the Knicks and Anthony, who would have to waive his no-trade clause in order to facilitate a deal to the Cavs. The Knicks would receive draft picks and players in return. One of those players is believed to be Timofey Mozgov, who five years ago was traded by the Knicks to Denver in the Anthony deal.
Those talks have not progressed. Plus Anthony reiterated on Friday that he has no plans to seek a trade. However, when asked if he’s thought about his future with a losing organization, Anthony gave a cryptic answer. “Not yet. I’m pretty sure I’ll have that conversation with myself and my family and my team,” he said. “But it’s not a conversation for right now.”
February 27, 2021 | 9:03 pm EST Update
Jrue Holiday likely to return after 10 games out
Adrian Wojnarowski: ESPN Sources: After missing 10 consecutive games in the league’s health and safety protocol, Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday is likely to return to the lineup against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.
Nets Daily: Woj says Sean Marks told him yesterday that @James Harden reminds him of @Manu Ginobili in terms of his court vision.
Fred Katz: 10th triple-double of the season for Russell Westbrook, who has 17-12-12 so far tonight. Wizards up 19 now in the third quarter.
Jovan Buha: No surprises on the Lakers’ injury report vs. Golden State tomorrow: LeBron James (left ankle sprain) is probable. Anthony Davis (right calf strain) is out.
Jason Anderson: Kings rookie Tyrese Haliburton (left calf soreness) is out for Sunday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets.
Rod Boone: Devonte’ Graham remains out for tomorrow night’s game vs. Sacramento. Cody Zeller (left hip contusion) is questionable.
Gerald Bourguet: After missing Friday night’s game against the Bulls, Dario Saric (right ankle sprain) is once again listed as questionable for tomorrow’s Suns game
