Knicks trade Carmelo Anthony to the Thunder

[pwaldo]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...a-city-thunder

The New York Knicks have agreed to trade 10-time All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder, league sources told ESPN on Saturday.

The Thunder will send center Enes Kanter, forward Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-round pick (via the Chicago Bulls) to New York, league sources said.

Anthony, 33, will waive his no-trade clause and his $8.1 million trade kicker to accommodate the deal, league sources told ESPN.

A trade call is scheduled for Monday to finalize the deal with the league office, sources said. Anthony is planning to arrive on Monday afternoon in Oklahoma City to take a physical and be available to practice Tuesday at the opening of the Thunder's training camp, according to league sources.

[bakemeister52]

I am happy for Carmelo to get out of New York. Could be an interesting time out in the West this coming season.

[Jameis1of1]

Solid trade for both teams imho ... Westbrook/Roberson/PG13/Melo/Adams is a marvelous starting 5, maybe the third best in the NBA behind GSW and Cleveland and Kanter + McDermott + a 2nd rounder is a solid haul for a one year rental of Melo for the Knicks

[Nostalgykone]

Not the best haul for the Knicks obviously, but at least they got something for Melo. Now they can move on. Kanter is probably looking at another timeshare, or close to it, but you figure his usage rate should go up regardless. It will be interesting to see if KP, Kanter, and Willy can all play together for any extended period of time. Here is McDermott's time to show that he is a player, but his leash will probably be short, and likey be relegated to a 20-25 MPG role. This Knicks team will be terrible once more, but on the upside Zinger should have a monster year and free reign as the new face of the franchise.

This is a great era in the NBA right now with all these Super Teams. RW, Melo, and PG13 were all in the Top 25 in usage rate last season, so we should see pretty quickly if this works. It could work if it's understood from Day 1 that this is Russ' team. Easier said than done. Melo will be the key here, if he's able to be more of a facilitator from the high post. He will need to average a career high in assists this season. I think RW and George will co-exist just fine on the court from a physical standpoint; they are both phenomenal athletes in the prime of their careers. Neither will have to give up much on the offensive end, they will get theirs. This is the perfect role for Steven Adams. He will be the cleaner, and likely make a big impact with the ball in his limited touches. Similar for Roberson who can focus solely on defense, and give Russ a breather against the other opposing elite guards. On paper this squad is deep and extremely versatile. If everything were to fall neatly into place this could be the best team in the West at season's end. Definitely the team to watch.

[pwaldo]

The West just keeps getting better while the East continues its exodus of talent. The Knicks get a nice haul in return but they aren't going to be competing again and will continue their never ending rebuilding phase.