How Long Could the Carmelo Anthony Situation Last?

One of the stories of the offseason for the Houston Rockets so far has been the Carmelo Anthony saga.

The Carmelo Anthony drama seems to be dragging on and on as the summer progresses. Rumors and stories everywhere have been hinting that Melo will be with Houston eventually. With no deal imminent, how much longer will this situation keep going?

What factors could be keeping this trade from happening? Could it be that Kyrie Irving wants out of Cleveland? Is Ryan Anderson an untradeable asset? Is the New York front office incompetent?

It is likely a little bit of all of these. Let’s take a look at the timeline of the Melo situation and discuss.

The Beginning

The beginning of the Melo-to-Houston rumor started when Carmelo Anthony said that he would waive his no-trade clause for only the Cavs and Rockets. This event happened on July 3.

Sources on @ESPN: Carmelo Anthony is now open to waiving no-trade clause for Houston or Cleveland. https://t.co/AneqQQcXCZ

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2017

Whenever this tweet was put out by Woj, Twitter went crazy. Rumors swirling around a Carmelo Anthony trade with the Rockets were everywhere.

The Middle

Everything in the middle of the drama kind of all melts together. First, it seemed like the Cavaliers were the favorites to land Carmelo. But when it was revealed that the team would not trade Kevin Love in a deal with New York, the Rockets started to look more and more like a possibility.

On July 12, the NBA world freaked out when it was said that the Melo-to-Houston deal was on the “2-yard line.”

Report: Trade talks between @nyknicks, @HoustonRockets involving Carmelo Anthony "at the two-yard line." #NBA https://t.co/t71XdVdX4b pic.twitter.com/azvveqygCi

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 12, 2017

This deal would have been a 4-team deal that would have been a blockbuster trade. Apparently, though, it was the 2016 Texans at the 2-yard line (too far?).

The next big piece of news was that the New York Knicks were hiring a new GM to replace Phil Jackson. New general manager Scott Perry came in and decided that he wanted to try to convince Melo to stay. However, that was no longer an option on the table. Carmelo Anthony was set on being elsewhere, preferably Houston.

At some point in an interview, Chris Paul said to just “sit back and wait” on the Melo situation.

Portland tried to get involved in the race for Melo, too. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum tried to get in on the action when they stated that Melo would make Portland a “top 3 team in the West.” Bold claim, guys. Thankfully, Anthony shut down these rumors.

"No he didn't say that exactly" Damian Lillard on his conversation with Carmelo Anthony and if he'd waive his no trade clause to come to POR

— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) July 24, 2017

Earlier this week, Bill Simmons tweeted that Melo and the Oklahoma City Thunder are “circling each other.” Simmons was likely looking for attention, though, as no other major sources picked this story up and Melo said he would not waive his no-trade clause for OKC.

Have a scoop – OKC and Carmelo are officially circling each other. OKC's Troy Weaver recruited Melo to Cuse + has known him since DMV days.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) July 24, 2017

Finally, Carmelo flat out said that he wants to be in Houston and is waiting for the Knicks to move him. Really.

Carmelo Anthony’s “primary objective” is to get traded to Rockets, per @FisolaNYDN https://t.co/SyQ4SHh5AQ pic.twitter.com/hZ3Pt1dJl9

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 25, 2017

The legacy of Burt Steele happened most recently after he declared that Anthony would be a Rocket by 5:45 on Tuesday. Of course, he was incorrect. Check out his Twitter for what happened fully there.

The Present/What’s Next

Right now, Melo is still dead set on coming to Houston. Unfortunately, the Rockets will likely have to find a third team to take Ryan Anderson. Near the beginning of the process, the Knicks refused a straight up trade of Ryno for Melo (of course).

When Kyrie Irving declared that he wanted a trade and named the Knicks as a possible landing spot, the talks about Carmelo slowed down. New York is likely looking for ways to incorporate Anthony into a trade for Kyrie if possible. If the Knicks would just listen to Melo and find a way to get him to Houston, this process could be a lot less painful for everyone involved. The longer they wait to trade him, the less his value is.

What will happen next? Will the trade ever be completed? Eventually, but it is sure looking like this situation will drag out into August at the very least. Hopefully, Carmelo Anthony can be in Houston and happy by training camp. If not, there will be quite a few unhappy Rockets fans out there.

Special thanks to Twitter user @CaptainSidonio for the inspiration to write about the Kyrie portion of this article.

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