Cleveland Cavaliers: Trading for Carmelo Anthony is likely the next move

Expend the Parameters

Enter the Knicks. To say that Phil Jackson has made no secret of his desire to move on from Anthony would be an understatement. While he’s not going to move Carmelo for an expiring contract and a couple of second rounders, he’s at the point where any promising young player would be considered a healthy return.

That’s what happens when you publicly devalue your second best asset in a year-end press conference.

Love, of course, would net far more in return, but it’s doubtful that any team would offer an equivalent player in an exchange. The Pacers might think about it, but the signs out of Indiana seem point to them trying to keep and extend Paul George, not dealing him.

There are plenty of teams that would try to package together a combination of players for Love, but its highly unlikely that the Cavs (read: LeBron) would ok any trade that didn’t net them a nominal “star” in return.

Lucky for the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks, three-team trades are a thing. In this case, it could be the one solution to both of the teams’ problems. It’s highly likely that there’s a team out there which would be willing to give up a young piece to New York and a solid rotation player to Cleveland in exchange for a player of Love’s caliber.