Carmelo Anthony Will ‘Stay Quiet’ Until Next Steps Says Confidant

Getty Images Houston Rockets forward Carmelo Anthony

Where on Earth will Carmelo Anthony play next?

“When the time is right he will speak out,” a source close to Carmelo Anthony told me via e-mail.

Carmelo Anthony has not played NBA basketball since November.

A ten-time NBA All-Star, Anthony signed with the Houston Rockets this summer after clearing waivers in a trade that shipped him from the Oklahoma City Thunder the Atlanta Hawks.

The third overall pick in the 2003 draft, Anthony’s last appearance with the Houston Rockets came in a blowout loss to Oklahoma City on Nov. 8 when he had two points and five rebounds.

According to a report from Sam Amick and Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Anthony has “multiple options available,” and plans to make a decision on his NBA future prior to the Feb. 7 trade deadline.

Per CBS Sports’ Chris Bengel:

According to two sources with knowledge of Anthony’s situation, the exiled 10-time All-Star who remains on the Houston Rockets roster has multiple options available and is expected to pick one before the Feb. 7 trade deadline. There is no clarity as to whether he would be traded in these scenarios or waived and subsequently signed, but there are strong signs that he will play in the NBA again.

For now, the current Houston Rocket has decided to do one thing: “To stay quiet,” another Melo associate told me.

NBA analyst Chris Sheridan chatted with me on the Scoop B Radio Podcast in December and said something happened between the team that “they don’t want out yet.”

“Still trying to figure that out,” Sheridan said via Scoop B Radio.

“I was in the arena at San Antonio the night he disappeared. They were saying he’s out with the flu. And it actually was a flu bug going around the team. The coach stated that James Harden was sniffling and Chris Paul was too. So there really was a flu bug going around during that game.”

The Rockets have said all of the right things since Melo and the Rockets parted ways.

“Carmelo had a tremendous approach during his time with the Rockets and accepted every role head coach Mike D’Antoni gave him,” Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey said in November.

“The fit we envisioned when Carmelo chose to sign with the Rockets has not materialized, therefore we thought it was best to move on as any other outcome would have been unfair to him.”

With Melo still under contract with the Houston Rockets, he’ll either be bought out or traded.

“He can still contribute,” ESPN NBA analyst, Jalen Rose told TMZ.

“It’s just … finding the right opportunity is tough because unless there’s a major injury, a contender team probably wouldn’t add him. And then, a lottery team is probably looking to ‘Stop tryin’ for Zion,’ so they’re tanking in a lot of ways.”

“Maybe an injury happens and he gets back in the league.”