OKC Thunder May Part Ways With Carmelo Anthony, Paul George 'Gone': Reports

The Oklahoma City Thunder could part ways with two of their signings from last year in Carmelo Anthony and Paul George, though the former is the one they would reportedly like get rid of.

Following Russell Westbrook's MVP winning 2016/2017 season, the Thunder sought to help him by adding more star power in the form of Anthony from the New York Knicks and George from the Indiana Pacers with the hopes of a deep playoff run.

However, it was anything but as they crashed out in the first round to the Donovan Mitchell-led Utah Jazz, disappointingly losing the series 4-2 last month.

Anthony, in particular, did not turn out to be much of a star-studded acquisition as he experienced an extremely underwhelming season, finishing his campaign with a career-low 32.1 minutes per game that resulted in just 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.

Struggling to adapt to his new side throughout the season, he proceeded to critique the Oklahoma franchise during his exit interview for their strategy as well as expressing his displeasure at a bench role.

"I think the player that they wanted me to be and needed me to be was for the sake of this season," Anthony said. "Everything was just thrown together and it wasn't anything that was planned out. Wasn't no strategy to me being here, me being a part of the actual system and what type of player and things like that."

"There’s just some things that we have to evaluate. There’s some things that we have to kind of step away from the game now. There’s just some things as a team, as individuals, as an organization, have to evaluate in how we want to move forward," he said.

The Thunder are now looking to move on from Anthony as Sean Deveney of Sporting News reported, however, they would owe him $28 million next season due to a player option in his contract which would need to be figured out.

"While the Thunder want to keep (Paul) George long-term, they'd very much like to find a way to rid themselves of Anthony, who could not find a role with the team and did not inspire confidence with his unwillingness to sacrifice, highlighted by his insistence that he would not come off the bench," Deveney wrote.

George however, may not remain in Oklahoma either as while the Thunder would prefer to keep him, the 28-year-old is reportedly as good as "gone," according to ESPN's Ryen Russillo. George will enter free agency soon and is linked with a move to the Los Angeles Lakers.

"Today is the first time I’ve heard from anybody that I trust, that George is gone," Russillo was quoted as saying by Lakers Nation. "I don't know where. It's a, 'He's gone' deal."

George finished the regular season with 21.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.