Carmelo Anthony Could Join Chris Paul, Blake Griffin With Clippers As Knicks Explore Trade Options

After suffering yet another early elimination in the NBA playoffs, the Los Angeles Clippers might not be ready to blow up their core and start anew just yet. In fact, the team could be looking to add a major piece in addition to re-signing Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.

The latest news from the rumor mill involves a potential trade between L.A. and the New York Knicks. The two teams discussed a deal revolving around Carmelo Anthony at the trade deadline, and it could be revisited this summer.

According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, the Knicks rejected a proposal of Austin Rivers and Jamal Crawford for Anthony in the middle of the regular season. Berman reports that some league executives believe a trade could be made if the Clippers are willing to part with Rivers, Wesley Johnson and J.J. Redick.

The trade wouldn’t be able to happen without the consent of a few players involved. Anthony would have to waive his no-trade clause, and Redick would have to agree to sign-and-trade to New York. The shooting guard will be a free agent this offseason.

L.A. has been a consistent winner since Paul arrived in 2012, and they might be Anthony’s best chance to join a contender. The Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs aren’t looking to trade for Anthony, and a deal to the Cleveland Cavaliers no longer makes sense like it once did.

What is unknown, however, is Anthony’s willingness to accommodate Phil Jackson. The Knicks’ president made it clear that he wants to trade the star forward, doing so after criticizing him at different points during another disappointing season. Anthony re-signed with the team in 2014 in hopes of bringing a winner to New York, and he could decide to stick it out in the Big Apple, in part, to spite his boss.

When the Knicks gauged the trade market for Anthony this past winter, it became apparent that the ideal time to unload the veteran was long gone. Once considered among the NBA’s elite players, Anthony might no longer bring back a first-round pick in return. But with the team being years away from contending for a title and hoping to build around Kristaps Porzingis, only a trade that could land them promising young players or draft picks would make sense.

For that reason, the aforementioned trade might not be very likely to occur this offseason. It would almost certainly be met with backlash in New York City, where the fans and media have grown tired of the Knicks’ ineptitude under Jackson.

The deal makes much more sense for the Clippers, who need to make some sort of change this offseason. They aren’t good enough to compete with the Warriors or Spurs in the West as currently constructed, though it would be very difficult for the team to let either one of their star players go elsewhere, considering they are a perennial 50-plus game winner.

Adding Anthony wouldn’t make the Clippers the favorites in the West, but a “Big Four” of Paul, Griffin, Anthony and DeAndre Jordan is more formidable than any lineup that most NBA teams can put together.

With the playoffs in full swing and the start of free agency nearly two months away, Anthony's name should pop up in plenty more trade rumors over the next few weeks.