5 trades Carmelo Anthony will never agree to

1. Detroit Pistons

This situation is full of irony since the Detroit Pistons could have drafted Anthony back in 2003. Instead, they opted for one of the biggest busts this century in Darko Milicic. Obviously that would have been a cheaper route for the Pistons, but we can’t rewrite the past. We can only deal with the present and the fact that Detroit is a borderline playoff team. They’re currently the eighth seed with a 25-28 record and that can change in a heartbeat. Teams like the Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks still have realistic chances of passing them in the standings by year-end. Therefore, a trade to shake things up in a positive way may help their cause and Melo is an option.

One potential trade is to send Andre Drummond to New York in a straight up deal for Anthony. It works out in the legal sense, but not so much in any other sense. Despite his mental inconsistencies, Drummond is too young and too talented to simply trade for Carmelo alone. The Pistons would need someone to replace him at center and Aron Baynes isn’t the answer. Therefore, a deal for Anthony would require a bit more.

Another potential trade that works is dealing Tobias Harris and Drummond for Anthony and Joakim Noah. Noah is barely useful at this point but he could at least be a bridge as the Pistons look for a new answer at center. A starting five of Reggie Jackson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Marcus Morris, Anthony and Noah is a more experienced one that should have an easier time making the playoffs. It’s not ideal for the future, but it could prove to be better right now.

As for the Knicks, a frontcourt of Harris, Drummond and Porzingis is a scary prospect to think about. They’re also a better fit for the triangle offense that New York is trying to deploy. It’s a situation that they would probably accept and there would be no more “Melo-drama.” The only thing that would get in the way is Carmelo’s approval.

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Even though he would be in Detroit and in a playoff situation, it’s hard to imagine Anthony saying yes to the deal. It’s possible that he would end up watching the Knicks improve and become better than the Pistons team that he’s on. Additionally, Detroit is not an ideal market for him in terms of brand and championship aspirations. As a result, the Pistons are another team that wouldn’t receive Melo’s green light in terms of a trade.