Carmelo Anthony: 4 NBA teams most likely to sign him when he becomes a free agent

Carmelo Anthony and the Thunder will part ways this summer, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Royce Young. This isn’t all that surprising despite Anthony’s decision in late June to stay with the team for the remaining $27.9 million of his contract.

The Thunder returned Paul George and re-signed Jerami Grant to sizable deals this summer, launching their payroll to a historic $310 million. That wasn’t going to last, and Anthony’s contract is easily the most glaring outlier of the bunch. His production plummeted in his first season with the team, and he’d likely have stepped into a much smaller role — he simply wasn’t worth the money.

Despite Anthony’s contract only being worth $27.9 million, Oklahoma City can save over $100 million either by using the stretch provision, or by trading him. That’s because OKC is deep into what’s called the luxury tax, which penalizes teams by how far they are over the salary cap.

The stretch provision would make Anthony a free agent, and spread his $27.9 million contract out over three seasons, costing the team $9.3 million each season until 2020-21. Though trading him is the priority.

According to Wojnarowski, even if Anthony is traded, it’s likely to be to a team who will waive him into free agency. Teams have little money left to spend this deep into free agency, but that might not matter to Melo. As long as Anthony doesn’t agree to a buyout, he’s getting his original contract in full. He has incentive to sign anywhere for the veteran’s minimum.

So where might Anthony go as a free agent?

Los Angeles Lakers

This feels like the obvious choice. Carmelo Anthony is a noted member of the banana boat crew, meaning he and new Laker LeBron James are really good friends. L.A.’s already assembled a squad of ... say “interesting” talent at this point, and don’t seem like a serious competitor yet, so they may take a flier on the 34-year-old.

We play the game of “Will Anthony change his game to adapt to stars around him?” every year, and so far he has not. If it’s ever going to happen, it’s alongside LeBron.

Portland Trail Blazers

There’ve been Melo-to-Portland rumors for a while now and this may be the time it comes true. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are desperate for a third star to make their team playoff relevant, but a tight budget’s restricted the Blazers from making major moves.

Is Melo a true star anymore? Not based on last season, but at an extreme discount, Portland’s a team that should be interested in taking chances.

Houston Rockets

The New York Times’ Marc Stein has already reported that Houston’s shown interest in signing Melo.

Houston was another potential landing spot for Melo a year ago when the Knicks had him on the trade block, and while they may be thankful things didn’t work out based on the bad season he had, they may want him to step in now. The Rockets lost their starting small forward, Trevor Ariza, to the Suns in free agency, and are yet to replace him.

Anthony doesn’t do the things that made Ariza so useful — namely defense — but again, on an extreme discount ... he’s worth a try.

Miami Heat

Maybe a true chance at winning a championship isn’t that important to Anthony, but having fun with another banana boat member in freaking South Beach after a year in Oklahoma City is.

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