New York Knicks: Alternative trade options for Carmelo Anthony

Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers have made it no secret that Carmelo Anthony is a trade target. Both Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum have attempted to recruit Anthony, and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that they’ve begun to sway the 10-time All-Star’s opinion.

The Houston Rockets are still the only team that Anthony has told the New York Knicks he’d join, however, which spells the reason for this inclusion.

Anthony would join Lillard and McCollum in a starting lineup that would feature three players who averaged at least 20 points per game in 2016-17. Joining them would be bruising post player Jusuf Nurkic and defensive Swiss Army Knife Al-Farouq Aminu.

With a revered head coach in Terry Stotts and a system that’s proven capable of yielding intriguing offensive results, Anthony and the Trail Blazers would be fun to watch.

New York’s return is all about defense, which 6’9″ forward Maurice Harkless has provided early in his career. The Knicks would also get an expiring contract, a first-round draft pick, and another 3-point shooting big.

This could turn out to be more of a beautiful disaster, but few teams would be able to match Portland’s offensive firepower with Anthony in the mix.