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The Oklahoma City Thunder know they have one of the best players in the NBA in Russell Westbrook, but now they’re doing their best to surround him with as much talent as possible. After pulling off a trade with the Indiana Pacers to bring Paul George to town, the Thunder are now reportedly making some level of a push on a possible deal for New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony.
As HBO’s Bill Simmons reported, the Thunder and Anthony are “officially circling each other.”
Have a scoop – OKC and Carmelo are officially circling each other. OKC’s Troy Weaver recruited Melo to Cuse + has known him since DMV days.
As Simmons explains, the fact that Troy Weaver, who helped recruit Anthony to Syracuse originally, is the current assistant general manager in Oklahoma City, may be playing a role.
This would certainly be a huge deal for the Thunder, as it could potentially put them in contention in the brutally tough Western Conference. While the original reports stated that Anthony would only waive his no-trade clause for either the Houston Rockets or Cleveland Cavaliers, it had also been pointed out that he was “focused” on a deal only with the Rockets at this point, per the New York Daily News.
With Anthony now apparently opening the door to possibly work a deal with the Thunder, it could lead to a three-headed monster of Westbrook, George, and Anthony, which would certainly place them in the top-tier of the Western Conference. It’s unknown what the Thunder would give up for Anthony, but the situation is going to be worth monitoring, especially since neither the Cavaliers nor the Rockets have been able to strike a deal for Carmelo to this point.
Regardless, whether it’s the Rockets (James Harden, Chris Paul and Anthony) or Thunder (Westbrook, George and Anthony), if one of these two teams is the one who makes a deal happen, it’s hard to not envision them pushing for the No. 2 spot in the West behind only the Golden State Warriors.
