The Oklahoma City Thunder and former All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony have reportedly agreed to part ways this summer. As the Thunder continued to make moves to fill out their roster following the re-signing of Paul George, their projected cap bill was skyrocketing. Everyone looked at one person to potentially be the target of the Thunder alleviating their tax bill and Carmelo Anthony opting into $27.9 million, the final year of his deal.
Following comes from Adrian Wojnarowski and Royce Young of ESPN.
The massive financial implications of Anthony opting into his $27.9 million contract for the 2018-19 season — coupled with a mutual understanding that his scaled back role with the Thunder isn’t what he had signed up for — have dictated that the two sides will part ways sometime this summer, league sources told ESPN.
Oklahoma City can use the stretch provision on Anthony’s $27.9 million contract to eliminate a staggering $107 million off the team’s 2018-19 payroll and tax bill, but the Thunder first plan to pursue trade possibilities with teams looking to acquire a massive expire deal to salary cap space in July 2019 free agency.
The Rockets are reportedly a team interested in adding Carmelo Anthony to their roster.
The Houston Rockets are among the teams that will have interest in Carmelo Anthony once he secures his free agency, according to league sources
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 6, 2018
