It has been widely assumed that the Oklahoma City Thunder would buy Carmelo Anthony out of his contract this summer, as the two sides have reportedly agreed to part ways. Instead, Oklahoma City could find a different way to rid itself of Anthony – by trading him. From ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
The Thunder are working on trade scenarios in which Anthony, 34, would be moved as an expiring contract and waived, becoming a free agent once his $27.9 million 2017-18 salary clears waivers. Oklahoma City needs Anthony to waive his no-trade clause, which he has done to facilitate his exit, league sources said.
Anthony’s contract makes trade possibilities less likely than simply executing the NBA’s waive and stretch provision on his contract, which would save the Thunder $107 million in luxury tax and salary. That would spread his salary-cap hit equally at $9.3 million over three years.
Potential landing spots for Anthony include the Miami Heat and Houston Rockets.
In his first – and almost certainly last – season in Oklahoma City, Anthony had the worst season of his career; his 16.2 points per game and 40.4-percent shooting average are both career-lows.
