Cavs Trade Rumors: LeBron James Wants Carmelo Anthony
In Cavs trade rumors, LeBron James wants the franchise the acquire his good buddy, New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony.
Look for Cavs trade rumors to run rampant after LeBron James took the front office to task for their “top heavy” roster.
Yesterday, some backup point guards were floated around. Now, the rumor we’ve all been waiting for is starting to gain some traction: Carmelo Anthony to the Cavs.
Dystnow’s Mike Ortiz tweeted the rumor, that sure to take the internet by storm.
First thing’s first, this report isn’t coming from the four-letter network, or Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
So, who’s Mike Ortiz Jr.? He’s the owner of DYSTNow.com. Keep in mind, his website–which many of us haven’t heard of until right now–will greatly benefit from this Melo-Cavs trade rumor.
According to his bio, Ortiz used to write for the Bleacher Report and his work has been featured on ESPN and CBS Sports, among others.
OK, so does Carmelo Anthony really make this team better? Sure the guy can score, so I guess the easy answer is yes, but remember, LeBron demanded his front office get him a an “f—– playmaker!”
When I think of Melo, I think prolific scorer, but I don’t think of a guy who makes a team better. We’re talking about 33-year-old veteran who hasn’t even been to the playoffs the last three seasons in the weak Eastern Conference.
Melo’s averaging 22.4 points per game this season, in addition to 3.1 assists per night. He’s still a high-usage player. Will there be enough shots to go around?
Yes, Kevin Durant is in Golden State, but the Warriors seem to do a better job of policing “hero ball.” Remember when Draymond Green got into KD’s face earlier this season? Meanwhile, the Cavs have two of the biggest hero ball offenders in the league in LeBron and Kyrie Irving.
I think they should resort to isolation ball because it’s a weapon in their skillets, but do the Cavs really need another guy who’s going to dominate the ball?
And then there’s the question of what to trade. Melo’s making $24 million this season, and the Cavs would have to make the players’ salaries they’d be sending to New York match.
The team’s highest paid players are LeBron ($30.9 million), Kevin Love ($21.1 million), Kyrie Irving (17.6) Tristan Thompson (15.3), J.R. Smith ($12.8 million) and Iman Shumpert ($9.6 million).
Ortiz brought up the possibility of moving rebounding maven Tristan Thompson.
“…According to league sources, James wants management to explore trade options to acquire Carmelo Anthony from the New York Knicks.
Now things get tricky as a lot of things would need to happen for this trade to go down.
1) The Cavs would most likely have to give up Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert (who they got from New York).
2) A third team would most likely have to join the trade.
3) Anthony would have to waive his no-trade clause.”
They just can’t dump Cedi Osman and draft picks and come away with Carmelo.
Next: Greek Freak Poised To Take LeBron's Throne
Even after their subpar January, the Cavs are still the favorites to represent the East in the Finals come June. Would Melo make Cleveland better. Yes. He’s a good player. But does he put them over the top? I’m hoping Cavs Country gets the chance to find out.