Carmelo Anthony has reportedly expanded the list of teams he’d be willing to be traded to, and that list includes the Cleveland Cavaliers, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Story filed to ESPN: Carmelo Anthony has expanded the list of teams with which he'd accept a trade — including the Cleveland Cavaliers.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 23, 2017
Wojnarowski also wrote, “The Rockets remain Anthony’s most desired location, but he’s worked to accommodate New York to try and find a trade before the start of the season, league sources said.”
Anthony and LeBron James are old friends, so it’s easy to see why there would be some interest from the Cavaliers, if they still care what King James wants or desires these days.
Of course, there’s always the matter of compensation. Who would the Cavaliers send to New York if Anthony were to join them? Obviously Kevin Love has been a name that is thrown out there every time trade rumors pop up, and financially he makes the most sense as he’s set to earn $22.6 million in 2017-18. Anthony is due to make over $26.2 million next season.
Cleveland recently made a deal to acquire Isaiah Thomas, shipping disgruntled Kyrie Irving to Boston in the exchange. There has been a heck of a lot of action with players moving to competitive teams this offseason. But most of that action has shifted even more power to the Western Conference.
Adding Anthony to Cleveland might help the Cavs compete with the high-scoring offenses of that conference, should Cleveland make it back to the NBA Finals for a fourth consecutive season.