New York Knicks: Designing an ideal Carmelo Anthony trade with Houston Rockets

The Third Team

Finding a third team will be both as simple and as complex as figuring out who’s willing to take on Ryan Anderson’s contract. Anderson has an elite outside shot that makes him a mismatch nightmare at the 4, but his shortcomings and contract limit the options to two teams.

If the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks are going to execute a trade, it will likely come down to including the Detroit Pistons, Oklahoma City Thunder, or Portland Trail Blazers.

A three-team trade with Oklahoma City would send Carmelo Anthony and Enes Kanter to Houston, and Anderson and Eric Gordon to Oklahoma City. The hurdle is that the return for New York would be far less ideal than what Detroit and Portland can offer.

In turn, it’s fair to rule Oklahoma City out as a potential trading partner.

The far more viable options are Detroit and Portland. Pistons head coach and lead executive Stan Van Gundy has ties to Anderson from their Orlando Magic years, and the Trail Blazers value the ability to space the floor.

One could fairly argue that Portland would be the more ideal trade partner, but the realistic evaluation is that Detroit is more likely to accept this trade.