Carmelo Anthony trade rumors: Melo wants to play for the Rockets

Despite all of the drama surrounding the Carmelo Anthony trade rumors, Melo still wants to play for the Houston Rockets.

Just a few days ago, Knicks President Steve Mills decided to pull Carmelo Anthony off of the trade block.

Mills wanted Anthony to meet with new general manager Scott Perry about possibly returning to New York next season.

Carmelo has no interest in returning to the bright lights of Madison Square Garden.

Anthony has informed the Knicks that he wants a trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski during an appearance on SportsCenter.

“Carmelo Anthony has made it clear to [the Knicks]. I want to go to Houston, I am not interested in talking about being reincorporated back into this New York roster.”

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Why would Carmelo return to a franchise that has attempted to publicly oust him? Last season, Carmelo’s trade value diminished because of Phil Jackson‘s constant jabs and criticisms.

On July 17, reports surfaced that Steve Mills refused to rule out the possibility of Carmelo returning to New York next season. He also said that the Knicks would not buyout Anthony’s contract.

The Knicks don’t really want Carmelo back

It would be hard to imagine that New York’s front office had a legitimate change of heart so suddenly. On July 8, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Knicks “do not imagine a scenario where Hardaway is sharing the floor with Anthony to start the season.”

It is likely that New York still feel the same way. The Rockets and Cavaliers are probably not offering satisfactory deals to New York, so the Knicks pretending to possibly bring Melo back is a facade to increase his trade value.

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Wojnarowski reported that Houston will negotiate with New York until they can agree on a deal for Carmelo.

“Houston now is prepared for the fact that these negotiations with the Knicks could run through August, September and possibly into the start of training camp as New York tries to rebuild Melo’s value and threaten people with the idea that they’ll bring him back to start the season.”

Currently, it appears that there isn’t a timetable in New York to trade Carmelo Anthony. Although, because of his unwillingness to return to New York, a deal finalized before training camp would come as no surprise.

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