Throughout the NBA offseason the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets were engaged in trade talks involving 33-year old All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony. Despite countless rumors that the Knicks and Rockets were close to completing a deal it never came to fruition, and the Knicks ultimately agreed to trade Melo to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for center Enes Kanter, forward Doug McDermott, and the Chicago Bulls' 2018 second round pick.
During an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio this morning, Carmelo commented about the rumored Houston trade, and how it was basically a done deal.
Via the New York Daily News' Frank Isola,
"A deal was done with Houston," Anthony said, before adding for "some reason … it didn't go through."
It's unclear exactly what deal the two teams had in place, but the holdup always seemed to be the Knicks' unwillingness to take on the hefty contract of Houston forward Ryan Anderson. Melo had even reportedly "mentally moved on to Houston" just a few days ago but, alas, he had to settle for a spot in Oklahoma City alongside Russell Westbrook and Paul George. Not a bad consolation prize.
Melo is expected to start at the power forward position in OKC, which is something he talked about during the team's Media Day earlier this week.
He told reporters, per ESPN,
"I've been playing the 4 almost all my career," Anthony told reporters. "Even in Denver, we was one of those teams with George Karl, kinda started going playing that small ball, putting me at the 4, picking up the pace. We kind of started that. And the league wasn't ready for that at that time. It was all about traditional bigs and power forwards and centers. And now, it's just whoever."
With Melo playing the 4, Thunder coach Billy Donovan will be able to start defensive-minded guard Andre Roberson, who can match up with the opposing team's perimeter threat.
Carmelo and his new teammates will open up the 2017 NBA season at home on Thursday, October 19th against who else, the New York Knicks.
