The drama surrounding the New York Knicks and a potential trade to send star Carmelo Anthony out of town hasn’t slowed down much this offseason. While it paused briefly as the Knicks considered trying to keep Anthony, per ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski, that didn’t last long.
On Friday, Kyrie Irving’s trade request to the Cleveland Cavaliers became public, and the Anthony trade rumors picked up once again.
Late Friday, the Knicks were rumored to be considering a trade that would send Anthony and multiple first round picks to the Cavaliers for Irving, as ESPN’s Ian Begley reported. But, even though Anthony had been rumored to have interest in the Cavaliers and the Knicks are on Irving’s short list, things aren’t always that simple.
Irving may be willing to go to the Knicks, per ESPN’s Chris Haynes, but Anthony is the one with a no-trade clause, and it seems that his focus is elsewhere.
ESPN Sources: On Kyrie Irving front, Cavs were given four preferred landing spots: New York, Miami, San Antonio, Minnesota.
As Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reported, a source close to Anthony stated that the Knicks star is “focused on getting a deal done with Houston.” As Isola pointed out, Anthony’s interest in the Cavaliers may take a hit if the team doesn’t have Irving, and he also likely knows there’s a real chance that LeBron James could be leaving town next offseason.
This rumor comes just days after a July 17 report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, which stated that Anthony had begun to “prioritize” a deal to the Rockets over the Cavaliers.
For the Cavaliers, a trade that included Irving in return to Anthony and first round draft picks may have been one of the only things that could have made them feel more comfortable about James and the potential to keep him in 2018 free agency. Now, what the team could wind up getting back for Irving is up in the air.
On the flip side, Anthony seems to be pretty locked in on the potential of landing with the Rockets and teaming up with James Harden and newly-acquired Chris Paul. This offseason is certainly getting messier as time goes on, at least when it comes to the big name superstars of the league.
While it seems like many players are looking for trades are hoping to move teams ahead of the 2017-18 season, one of the outliers has been Washington Wizards point guard John Wall. The four-time All Star signed a four-year, $170 million contract extension on Friday night right in the middle of all the drama going on in Cleveland.
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Carmelo Anthony ‘Focused’ on Deal with Rockets, Not Cavaliers