NBA News: Carmelo Anthony Trade Possible If Knicks Struggle In 2015-16 Season

If the New York Knicks continue to struggle in the upcoming 2015-2016 NBA season, the team may look to trade star forward Carmelo Anthony, according to reports.

Zach Lowe of Grantland first wrote about the Anthony trade possibility and a few other writers like Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal chimed in and agreed that a probable deal could happen during the regular season.

Anthony signed a five-year, $124 million long-term extension with the Knicks last season and will be in the second year of the deal, which will pay him $22.875 million in the 2015-2016 season. Anthony is the second highest paid player in the league both on annual average and total value of contracts.

Aside from the difficulty in matching the huge contract in any deal, as required by the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement trade rules, Anthony also has a “no trade clause” in his contract, which means that the star forward have to agree on his destination in any trade.

Despite giving Anthony the huge long-term deal, the Knicks chose young prospect Kristaps Porzingis, a 20-year-old center from Latvia, in the recent NBA draft. The move points to New York’s rebuilding plans rather than be a playoff or title contender in the upcoming NBA season. Earlier in the offseason, there were reports that Anthony was not happy with the Knicks’ moves during the summer.

The Knicks, which had the worst record in the Eastern Conference and the second worst record in the entire league with 17 wins against 65 losses last season, will feature new faces in the line-up for the new season, including centers Robin Lopez and Kevin Seraphin, forward Derrick Williams and shooting guard Arron Afflalo, among others.