
The Finances
The New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers wouldn’t be able to execute a player-for-player trade. Carmelo Anthony has a salary that can only be sniffed by those belonging to Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum—Portland’s untouchables.
Thus, if the Knicks and Trail Blazers are going to execute a trade, then multiple players and contracts will need to be included.
Anthony will make $26,243,760 during the 2017-18 NBA regular season. That’s a massive figure that the Trail Blazers would prefer to match after spending the month of July exploring ways to no longer pay the luxury tax.
Knowing that to be true, Portland is more than likely to ship out an equal amount of salary—a truth that may or may not require a third team.
Evan Turner’s contract would make this trade easier, but his $17,131,148 salary would be too much with Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee already on the roster. Thus, Maurice Harkless’ $10,162,921 figure, Meyers Leonard’s $9,904,494, Al-Farouq Aminu’s $7,319,035, and Ed Davis’ expiring $6,352,531 will be considered.
The question is: What will the New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers be looking for in a trade, and how might these salaries line up?