The Rockets have agreed to trade Carmelo Anthony and cash to the Bulls, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
Chicago will not acquire the longtime All-Star for the purpose of playing him, Wojnarowski adds in a follow-up tweet. He could be released quickly but it’s possible that franchise will hold off on waiving him until the trade deadline. That would allow the Bulls to seek a trade, though they can’t aggregate his contract in another deal.
The Bulls have an open roster space, allowing them to add Anthony without dropping another player. The cost for picking up Anthony’s salary at this stage of the season is $675K. The cash received from Houston will more than cover the cost, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.
Anthony will be better off waiting until the trade deadline to hook onto a new club if Chicago doesn’t move him. Anthony wants to find a place where he can make an impact and that opportunity could be created by waiting for trades to happen and roster spots to open up, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).
There has been plenty of speculation where Anthony might ultimately end up this season, including the possibility of joining forces with good friend LeBron James in Los Angeles. The Lakers have some interest, according to Wojnarowski, but they have a full roster and don’t want to cut loose a guaranteed contract to pick him up (Twitter link).
Houston announced in mid-November its intention to part ways with Anthony and he’s been in limbo the past two months, occupying a roster spot without being an active participant.
The Rockets have been seeking to trade him rather than releasing him outright. Moving him to the Bulls takes the team off the hook for the tax penalties associated with his $1.51MM cap hit.
Anthony averaged 13.4 PPG and 5.4 RPG in 10 games with the Rockets.
Heat or Blazers should sign him
HEAT
As a Heat fan, no thanks.
He makes sense for this team
As a fan of the Lakers.. we need him.
No. You are not fan of the Lakers then
Have been for only 25 years, but ok whatever you say.
Mass amount of injuries , need depth, falling out of the playoffs… Seems appropriate timing to add an undisputed HOF .. let alone one who could be something special on the floor with LeBron.
I REALLY FEEL SORRY FOR MELO
Don’t
He’s made enough money
well bye bye melo
melo and cash to the bulls.
bulls will cut melo.
and jerry will offer the cash to manny machado.
lol
I am confused how this helps the Bulls. I didn’t think they needed cash that much.
Who doesn’t want cash
I know!
How much do you have to like it to accept it when it’s offered for free?
Hint: Jordan Bell
*this should’ve been a reply to “I didn’t think they needed cash”
Kingcong95…. Jordan Bell still stings my pride.
While I get why bulls fans feel that way, Jordan bell on the bulls vs Jordan bell on the warriors is two different things. He likely wouldn’t be near as good.
I mean if the Bulls aren’t giving anything up (at best, all I see them giving up is a heavily protected second round pick) then there’s no risk. Low reward but no risk. Not every deal has to be a home run.
Teams also do favors for one another. So the Bulls have now helped Houston out 2x over the last month. Somewhere down the line the Bulls might need help and they can call the Rockets to ask them to step up as the Bulls have now for them. Certainly, Houston would be under no obligation to do so, but chances are they would if they can.
Hint: Jordan Bell
How is it a trade if nothing is going from the Bulls to the Rockets? I understand just taking him off the Rockets hands is a benefit to them, but that’s not a legitimate trade. I suppose could give a trade exception to Houston or a heavily protected second round pick, like the one the Nets got from Atlanta, but it should be something.
Just as with MCW “trade” the Bulls are taking the cap hit (meaningless to them since they are not near the tax line) for the Rockets, and charging them a fee for their services.
Ok, so the “trade” value Chicago is providing is cap space…
impact?
Bwa ha ha ha
Maybe he could go to China a la Marbury. I don’t think he offers much to any NBA team at this point.
I remember back in like 2012-2013 the bulls were all over this guy to sign as a free agent.
Summer of 2014. Phil Jackson’s first summer in charge. Bulls dodged a bullet.
Yep, was thinking the same thing. The Bulls were wining and dining Melo trying to get him to sign not that long ago. Funny how things change so quickly.
Cavs should sign him.
One of the most overrated players in NBA history and now is just a washed up scorer hoping to win a ring that he could never have gotten on his own. Carmelo Anthony was a great shooter but he never made any team better and was all about his own stats, not wins.
Melo is starting to give Oliver Drake a run for his money.
Melo should just retire. He’s terrible.
Carmello will stot Twix Zero and Butterfinger.
Excellent signing by the Bulls!!!!
Signed, 2009
Trade him to the Big 3 league
retire!
Modern day Glenn Robinson…but he actually shot the ball even more and had less of a shooting percentage.
As a Heat fan, if he can play within the system, then he can be serviceable to us. If he’s just going to do what he always does, no thanks. We already had a guy like Meeeeeelo many years ago. His name was Glen Rice, but he was a better shooter and more of a team guy.
He isn’t worth the money, even for free
He just got traded! I thought he died 2 months ago.