Though we’ve seen a myriad of stars get dealt throughout this eventful NBA offseason, the disgruntled Carmelo Anthony remains a New York Knick. Anthony has been one of the premier names involved in trade discussions over the past few months but his situation is unique from that of Kyrie Irving or Jimmy Butler, two other stars who changed teams this summer. In order to be moved, Anthony would first have to waive his no trade clause but his unwillingness to do so for any team except the Houston Rockets has put New York in a tough situation.
One of the teams involved in the sweepstakes for Carmelo is the Portland Trail Blazers but they’ve mostly been on the outside looking in. Though it’s clear Anthony is hell-bent on joining forces with Chris Paul and James Harden in Houston, Blazers guard Damian Lillard has something else to say about that.
According to ESPN’s Marc Spears, Lillard said Carmelo Anthony ‘didn’t seem opposed’ to the idea of joining Portland when the two recently held a discussion:
Lillard said that he spoke to New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony about the possibility of waiving his no-trade clause to be dealt to Portland, but doesn’t see any trade in sight. Lillard said that Anthony “didn’t seem opposed” to the idea of playing for the Blazers when they spoke…
“I’m not giving up on anything. I just think I’ve done what I can do. And camp is a few weeks away. And you have to focus on getting ready with who we are, plan on going in as we are. Whatever changes, the front office will be the ones making that change, with the Knicks and our front office or whatever. But I get my mind focused on what I can control at a certain point.”
Of course, in order to be dealt to the Blazers, Melo would have to waive his no trade clause and there have been no indications of him being willing to do just that unless it means he becomes a Rocket.
Lillard clearly thinks Carmelo Anthony would be a huge addition for the Blazers and he is right. Whichever forward spot he would slide in to, Anthony would provide a much-needed scoring punch to add to the explosive backcourt tandem of Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Adding Anthony would firmly place the Blazers in the thick of that Western Conference playoff picture, a tough task considering the plethora of dangerous teams out West.
