The Carmelo Anthony trade officially went through today. Melo ‘heads’ to Atlanta, where he will immediately be released by the Hawks, and then according to most pundits, it’ll be on to Houston.
Getting past Melo was first and foremost a money-saving move; OKC will save a fortune in luxury tax payments by turning Anthony’s $28 million salary into Dennis Schroder and Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot’s combined $17 million. But the players OKC took back matter too. TLC is mostly an upside play, an athletic prospect who OKC can bring along slowly. But in Schroder, they get a starting caliber point guard who can run the second unit.