The relationship between the New York Knicks and their star player Carmelo Anthony has been damaged so much over the years that the 12-time All-Star’s name has constantly been involved in trade talks.
Anthony has a no-trade clause though, so he would need to approve any trade that involves him, and he has said in the past that he only wants to go to the Houston Rockets to team up with friends and former Olympic teammates James Harden and Chris Paul.
The Rockets do not have very many assets to give up in a potential trade though, so a third team would seemingly have to get involved to make a deal happen.
Because of that, trade talks stalled between the two teams in July. But with still over a month until the start of training camp, it appears the two teams have re-engaged in talks, and could have a third team involved, via Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
The New York Knicks and Houston Rockets have re-engaged on trade talks involving 10-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony, with the Rockets again canvassing third-team trade partners to construct a deal, league sources told ESPN.
A trio of Anthony, Harden and Paul could be enough for the Rockets to compete with the Golden State Warriors in the loaded Western Conference if they are able to make the deal happen.
But Anthony played for Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni before with the Knicks, and it did not exactly work out well as D’Antoni resigned early into his fourth season with the organization, partly because of a clash with Anthony.
It is currently unclear who the third team involved in the deal would be, but they would likely have to take on the salary of Ryan Anderson, who still has three years and around $60 million remaining on his contract.