5 trade destinations for Carmelo Anthony
By John Buhler
New York Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony wants to stay in New York. Should he be coerced into waiving his no-trade clause, where could he wind up?
The New York Knicks are a total mess in mid-January. Through 42 games, the 2016-17 Knicks are 18-24 and in 11th place in the Eastern Conference. They have lost two in a row, eight of their last 10 and are a free agency chemistry experiment gone wrong.
The Derrick Rose trade with the Chicago Bulls is not working out to say the least. Center Joakim Noah is rapidly decaying in the low post. Star power forward Kristaps Porzingis is dealing with Achilles concerns. And team president Phil Jackson continues to undermine head coach Jeff Hornacek with a relentless push for more Triangle.
While he wants to remain with the Knicks, small forward Carmelo Anthony may be forced to waiving his no-trade clause by Jackson before the 2017 NBA trade deadline. If Anthony does agree to a move, here are five places that the three-time Olympic Gold medalist could land this February in a blockbuster deal.
Denver Nuggets
West, Northwest
Talk about buyer’s remorse to the extreme. The Denver Nuggets are the same team that Anthony forced his way out of in a 2011 trade. Anthony could have signed with the Knicks in 2011 NBA free agency but wanted to get out of Dodge as soon as possible.
Is there bitterness between the Knicks and Nuggets from the 2011 Anthony trade? Probably, but they could really help each other if they orchestrate a trade to send Anthony back to the Rocky Mountains.
No team in the NBA has a wider array of tradeable assets than Tim Connelly’s Nuggets. They can offer anything from first-round picks to high-upside youngsters to a healthy return of starters to rotational veterans.
Denver has lacked relevance since the Anthony trade of 2011. Small forward Danilo Gallinari has been solid when healthy, but he rarely is. Getting Anthony back in Denver could offer intrigue to this forgotten Western Conference team. His scoring ability would thrive in Michael Malone’s half-court offense. Anthony might be the veteran piece to get Denver back into the Western Conference Playoffs.
Of course, this is a massive long shot of a trade scenario. Some scars may never heal. If the organizations want to put pride aside, there could be a mutually beneficial trade involving Anthony here. Not all of Anthony’s basketball memories in Denver were bad ones, right?