The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to look for ways to improve their roster to take down the Golden State Warriors. After failing to land Paul George in a three-team trade, the Cavs could look to a banana boat member for help: Carmelo Anthony.
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ESPN's Marc Stein, in a longer piece centered mostly on the failed three-team trade for Paul George, says that the Cavs will be the "leading contenders" for Anthony if he ends up getting a buyout from the New York Knicks this offseason. A buyout and subsequent signing with the Cavs would result in Anthony taking the vet minimum to play for Cleveland, because the Cavaliers are well over the luxury tax. However, Anthony would get a chance to compete for a title and play with longtime friend LeBron James. Follow Chat Sports on Instagram during NBA Free Agency.
Anthony has a no-trade clause he has been unwilling to waive, and few teams (or contenders) could take on his salary in a trade. That's made the Knicks' efforts to dump Anthony nearly impossible.
Anthony has two-years and $54.2 million left on his contract. If the Knicks can't find a trade partner for Anthony, they could elect to buy him out. At that point, New York could simply eat the rest of his salary or use the stretch provision and take a roughly $11 million cap hit over the next five years.
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The 33-year old averaged 22.4 points per game last year and has reached at least 20 per game every year of his career. Although he shot just 43.3 percent from the field, below his career average, he shot 35.9 percent from 3-point range. That's above his career average, although he had just 5.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists.
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