As the trade deadline nears, the drama surrounding Carmelo Anthony continues to unfold. The newest development: apparently LeBron James is pushing the Cavs to negotiate for Melo, even if that means unloading Kevin Love.
Per the New York Daily News:
According to a league source, LeBron is the one pushing the Cleveland Cavaliers front office to acquire Carmelo even if it means trading Kevin Love, which is something Cavs management is opposed to doing. Jackson is hoping to move Anthony prior to the Feb. 23 trading deadline and one player the Knicks have targeted is Love, who had 23 points with 16 rebounds in Cleveland’s win over the Knicks last Saturday.
Any deal for Anthony would require the Knicks’ leading scorer to waive his no-trade clause and the consensus is that Anthony would agree to play for the defending champs and his long-time friend LeBron.
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Whether LeBron has enough influence over the Cavs front office and owner Dan Gilbert to force a trade is unclear. ESPN reported last month that James is upset that management did not honor its commitment to find a suitable back-up point guard. The Cavs have since worked out several free agent point guards, including Mario Chalmers and Lance Stephenson.
A deal involving Carmelo is complicated because of Anthony’s salary. For the Cavs to acquire Anthony without including Love in the deal would require the Knicks to take back at least three role players in order to match salaries. And that’s something the Knicks may be reluctant to do, anyway.
Update: After the Cavs’ thrilling overtime victory over the Wizards, LeBron James denied this rumor, claiming: “It’s trash and the guy who wrote it is trash too.”
“It’s trash and the guy that wrote it is trash too.” — LeBron James on the Kevin Love/Melo trade rumor. pic.twitter.com/8RfHqGFMzD
— SB Nation NBA (@SBNationNBA) February 7, 2017
So, where will Melo end up?
Related
Report: Cavs Have ‘No Interest’ in Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Anthony Would ‘Consider’ Waiving No-Trade Clause
