You don’t have to be Nostradamus to know what will become of Carmelo Anthony for the upcoming 2017-18 NBA season.
Either he stays with the New York Knicks for a seventh full season or he’ll be traded to the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets are the only team that Anthony is willing to waive his no-trade clause for. Originally, the Cleveland Cavaliers were also apart of that list, but Kyrie Irving’s trade drama that resulted in him heading to the Boston Celtics changed that.
But it’s been common knowledge that the Knicks and Rockets can’t get a deal done on their own.
For a player of Anthony’s caliber, the Rockets either don’t have enough or have pieces that Knicks have no reason to take. Ryan Anderson is the best Houston has to offer, but a huge contract and his position at power forward makes no sense for the Knicks to bring on, especially since Kristaps Porzingis continues to develop into a superstar.
That’s why a third and possibly fourth team has been needed to facilitate a deal that would ship Anthony to Houston, though there haven’t been many teams to step up and get involved.
One team that has been interested has been revealed, though.
The Milwaukee Bucks, according to ESPN’s Ian Begley, entered the conversation to gauge the interest of both the Knicks and the Rockets in attempt to “shed salary.”
Begley reported that one name that was floated out there was Milwaukee’s young, oft-injured forward Jabari Parker, who has been steadily building an All-Star resume during his three years in the league.
In 51 games before tearing his ACL last year, the 22-year-old averaged 20.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
Once again though, it looks like Houston’s Anderson stalled any kind of talks. Milwaukee would have been foolish to take on Anderson’s remaining $60 million over the next three seasons if they were attempting to shed salary.
And while it has not been disclosed which team, the Bucks or Knicks, proposed Parker originally, his inclusion in talks if true show that Milwaukee might not be comfortable with his ability to stay healthy moving forward.
