The three-team trade that will send Carmelo Anthony to the Hawks (briefly), Dennis Schroder to the Thunder, and Mike Muscala to the Sixers may not be officially completed for several days, according to reports from Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter links).
As Vivlamore notes, the Hawks will almost certainly waive Antonius Cleveland and his non-guaranteed salary in order to create the cap room necessary to make the deal work, but that shouldn’t hold things up much. Pompey hears from one source that the delay may be the result of the 76ers working on another move.
While it’s not clear what that Sixers move might be, the club does have a tiny sliver of cap room still available. It’s not enough space to be useful at this point, but perhaps Philadelphia wants to explore all its options before officially going over the cap and closing certain doors.
Whether the trade is ultimately finalized today, this weekend, or next week sometime, Anthony looks like a strong bet to eventually land in Houston once he’s acquired and then waived by Atlanta. Anthony has reportedly considered both the Rockets and Heat, but Houston has been viewed as the strong frontrunner for the last week or two.
David Aldridge of TNT provides more evidence in favor of Anthony joining up with James Harden and Chris Paul in Houston, citing a source who says that Carmelo has been telling people for over a week that he’ll wind up with the Rockets (Twitter link).
When the deal becomes official, the Hawks will use up their remaining cap room, leaving the Kings as the only NBA team with any meaningful space available. Sacramento still has more than $20MM in open cap room.
Melo should seriously consider San Antonio as a destination…..
Murray-DMDR-Melo-LMA-Gasol/Poeltl
with Gay as 6th man, plus Mills and Gasol/Poeltl to follow.
Top 5 WC team in my books
so you would start Melo over Rudy Gay
Seeing I added him into my starting 5, why yes, yes I would.
Even though everything possible seemed to go wrong for the Spurs last year, what they have now still doesn’t seem like a top 5 team in the West to me, especially since the first 4 (GS, Houston, Utah, and the Lakers) seem like pretty safe bets at the moment. Portland and New Orleans should be pretty good again too.
I also can’t imagine Melo being a good fit with Pop, and the role of “all offense, no defense” is already filled by DeRozan for them.
I don’t agree with your first four. LA will probably be a 7 or 8 seed (LBJ new teams always struggle and this squad has inexperienced youth in the West). Houston has found a way to somehow digress and their window has already closed. Portland and New Orleans had tough offseasons. OKC brought back their big name, got rid of Melo, and improved their bench with Schroeder and Noel. They’re #2 in the West. Utah, Houston, San Antonio, Blazers, Lakers, and Wolves are somewhere behind that.
The Rockets have had a tough offseason, but I think that it’s been a little overstated. They’ve lost a few key reserves, but they still have Harden and CP3, and although they’ve botched the Clint Capela situation I’d still be shocked if he doesn’t return. I still think they’re a good bet for 2nd in the West.
I think Utah is legit (and pretty deep), so a top 4 seed for them seems fair to me. And I’m a Cavs fan, so I can’t really put anything past LeBron at this point…the Lakers will struggle to gel at first but they’ll probably get things figured out in time to get a fairly high seed. But you’re right about OKC being a contender for a high seed (losing Melo is addition by subtraction and another year of Russ and PG13 should be even better), plus as long as AD is healthy New Orleans will be fine and Portland is solid too.
We disagree on a few teams, but the original point was that San Antonio doesn’t look like a top 4 seed in the West, which I’d still stand by.
I agree with you on San Antonio. If Ginobili returns, they have great depth but losing Kawhi in an improved Western Conference will show itself. DM/Derozan/Gay/Aldridge/Gasol with a bench of Mills, Walker, Belinelli, Poetl, Manu, Bertans makes the playoffs, but not the Spurs we are used to.
Capela will return, though the situation was botched, and they’re gonna land Melo. They’re worse defensively, Paul is another year older, and we know what Harden is. Ariza and Luc will be big losses come playoff time. They’re top 4, but I believe OKC’s defense (Russ/Roberson/George/Patterson/Adams) with Schroeder, Grant, Abrines, Ferguson, and Noel off the bench gives them the youth and depth to be at top of the West by GSW. Utah could very well be #2 as well. Them and OKC are replaceable.
Melo in San Antonio with Derozan and Aldridge is as bad as Rondo, Wade, and Butler with Chicago two summers ago. That ego would not fly with Pop.
Yes because pop has to have the largest ego in the room at any given time.
I also think the Spurs system would be more closely suited to Melo’s style.
I can’t picture Melo succeeding in D’Antoni’s high intensity system, especially at this age.
Melo’s play style is the exact opposite of the system that the Spurs use and preach. He’s the definition of a ball stopper, and has shown absolutely no inclination to change.
Pau gone soon.
Team chemistry should always be considered when Melo is involved….
Still holding out that small amount of hope Melo comes to Miami, but it’s pretty much at a point where I’ve mostly conceded that he’s teaming up with Chris Paul
The ownership group in OKC probably asked Philly to make something up while they inquire of Presti whether he’s lost his mind or he thinks they have.
Why would anyone in their right mind, be excited about obtaining Melo? He does nothing to make other players better and can’t fit into anyone’s chemistry.
This is a nice move for the Sixers actually if it happens. Muscala is a solid bench player.
The Rockets replaced Mboute with Ennis so not concerned there.
D’Antoni is the one pushing for Anthony, he knows him well and is excellent at knowing which players will do well under him so I think Anthony helps them.
They still are likely to explore deals for Anderson and have the MLE.
When it is all said and done I think they are better than last year.
There’s a reason Ennis hasn’t found a home yet. When the Playoffs hit, you’ll see they’ve gotten worse. There’s no way you can play Harden and Carmelo defensively in late game situations. CP3 is injured every season so you’re banking that he stays heathy. Capela is disgruntled. And they lost two key defenders. Houston got worse.
I have noticed no one has mentioned Denver for the playoffs. For me they are a lock for the playoffs, barring an uninspiring season from Murray/Harris