With the NBA trade deadline just weeks away and Carmelo Anthony seemingly in limbo in Houston, a trade finally went down on Monday (Jan. 21). The longtime NBA star will officially call Chicago home, for now, and become a member of the Bulls’ roster, for a very short time.
The Hot New Hip Hop site reported the news of the Melo trade citing ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Rockets traded Anthony and cash to the Bulls. The NBA insider indicated that due to the fact Monday was a holiday, the league would not be able to execute the trade that day. Instead, the trade call will take place on Tuesday.
As ESPN reported, the Chicago Bulls won’t play Carmelo in any games. The team plans to trade or waive Anthony ahead of the Feb. 7 NBA trade deadline. That means Carmelo could be joining his fourth NBA team in the past two seasons.
The last time Carmelo Anthony played in an NBA game was on Nov. 8 for the Houston Rockets. However, the team decided Anthony wasn’t part of their plan going forward and announced they would be trading him away. Since then, he’s remained inactive for the team, awaiting a move to somewhere else.
Anthony was a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder last season but didn’t end up working out in their plans either. He averaged 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game while with OKC. With the Rockets, Melo averaged career lows of 13.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 0.5 assists in about 29.4 minutes of game time on average.
The veteran NBA player has spent has been part of the league since 2003-04. He was drafted by the Denver Nuggets and spent his first seven seasons there. He ended up traded to the New York Knicks during the 2010-11 season and remained there for a total of seven seasons. Unfortunately, he’s been unable to reach the NBA Finals during his career, something Melo is probably eager to achieve. Even more so, an NBA Championship is probably on his list of goals.
There have been lingering rumors that the Los Angeles Lakers “maintain interest” in the NBA star. LeBron James is good friends with Anthony and they entered the NBA in the same draft class. The two have never been a part of the same NBA roster, though. James previously commented that he felt Anthony could be a contributing member of their team and a mentor for the younger players.
At this moment, the Lakers have not indicated any desire to waive a player so they can clear up roster space for Anthony. However, if they happen to do so before or after the trade deadline, that could potentially open up an opportunity for Melo to join LeBron in Los Angeles.
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.