The Houston Rockets were on the verge of an NBA Finals appearance at the end of the 2017-18 season. Arguably, they were a healthy Chris Paul hamstring away from it but, that’s just conjecture.
That roster had expiring contracts so the Rockets brass took the opportunity to retool the roster in a different manner. That including finally ending the years-long rumors about Carmelo Anthony bringing his talents to Houston. The Thunder traded him to the Hawks who subsequently bought out his contract so he could sign with the Rockets.
Melo had previously spent a lot of time saying that he would never accept a role reduction as he still viewed himself as a star player.