Carmelo Anthony denied that he ever said no to the New York Knicks trading him to the Boston Celtics.
The Boston Celtics were very active in trade talks with several teams at the trade deadline this season, but failed to get anything done. There were rumors that they inquired about the Philadelphia 76ers’ young cornerstone Jahlil Okafor, but the most recent reports of a blockbuster trade came from CBS Sports reporting that they were also inquiring about Carmelo Anthony.
When asked about reports that he blocked the trade from going through, Anthony said, “heck no.” The Celtics were shopping David Lee, and according to reports a high draft pick — likely the Brooklyn Nets projected number 4 overall pick that the Celtics own — would have been included.
It’s worth noting that Anthony’s contract has a no-trade clause that would have to be waived. Players are often consulted in big trades like this, but Anthony would have to have given the Knicks the green light for this trade to occur given the current nature of his contract with the team. There is also a 15 percent trade kicker in his contract.
A CBS Sports article hypothesizes that Anthony is staying in New York with no intent to win a title, but all for the exposure that comes along with being in the big city. I think what’s more likely — if Anthony did in fact deny this trade — is that Anthony didn’t want to go to the Celtics because their future is possibly less bright than the Knicks’ future is.
Anthony is in the second year of a five year contract with the Knicks, and won’t have a chance to explore opportunities with other teams fully until 2019. Anthony’s name is one that’s always coming up in trade scenarios though, so he will probably have many opportunities to be traded if he really does ever want out of New York.