It was previously reported by Marc Stein of The New York Times that forward Carmelo Anthony would in fact opt in to his contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder for next season.
That’s now official. According to Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports, Anthony has notified the team that he’s not going anywhere.
Sources: Carmelo Anthony has informed the Oklahoma City Thunder that he has opted into $27.9M deal for 2018-19 by not exercising his early termination option.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 23, 2018
As Shams notes, the opt in comes with a $27.9 million cap hit for the 2018-19 season. This now means that Oklahoma City is north of $36 million over the cap. Certainly, Paul George’s likely decision to opt out of his contract will lower that number some.
But this is a clear indication that Oklahoma City is going to be handcuffed when it comes to adding talent during free agency.
Anthony, 34, averaged a career worst 16.2 points per game in his first season with the Thunder. Clearly on the downside of his career, the future Hall of Famer is worth nowhere near what he’s set to be paid next season.