Coming off his worst statistical season of his career (16.2 points (40% FG), 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game), Carmelo Anthony was seen as having one of the worst contracts in the entire league. After being upset by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs last year, the Oklahoma City Thunder were looking to shake up their roster a bit and this certainly did just that. The Thunder will receive a young ball handler in Dennis Schroder as the primary piece in this trade as well as Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, a young small forward that will see minutes off the bench as well. However, the best part of this trade is the amount of money that the team will save by getting Anthony’s contract off their hands:
The Atlanta Hawks will not even consider Anthony for their roster and will immediately buy him out, thus, making Anthony an unrestricted free agent. Teams such as the Rockets, Heat, and Lakers have been mentioned to be atop Anthony’s list of places to sign if a move like this occurred, which was looking more and more likely to happen every day. They also received a young and promising small forward in Justin Anderson as part of the three-team deal. Anderson will have plenty of time to develop on this roster and will have seemingly no pressure on him to perform immediately. The Hawks, clearly going through a rebuild, can afford to pay Anthony his close to $30 million left on his contract. They are not thought to be contenders this year and will instead look to build around their young pieces such as Trae Young, John Collins, Dewayne Dedmon, Justin Anderson and Oklahoma City’s 2022 first round pick.
The Philadelphia 76ers have swapped Luwawu-Cabarrot and Justin Anderson for big man Mike Muscala, whom Woj believes the Sixers will buy out as well.
As for the Thunder, their two stars in Russell Westbrook and Paul George will now have a bit of weight lifted off their shoulders as Schroder provides the team with a very quality point guard off the bench. It was never more apparent than in these past playoffs that the Thunder were in desperate need of some bench help. This move gives them that as well as plenty of flexibility to fill out their bench this year and in free agency next summer.
