Will The New York Knicks Trade Carmelo Anthony? Houston Rockets Not A Lock To Acquire All-Star

What once seemed to be a foregone conclusion is now up in the air. After months of actively trying to trade Carmelo Anthony, the New York Knicks have paused their efforts to move the All-Star.

Rumors began to circulate at the trade deadline that the Knicks were shopping Anthony, and then-team president Phil Jackson announced at the end of the regular season that New York was hoping to make a deal. With Anthony willing to waive his no-trade clause for the Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers, the Knicks were reportedly closing in on making a trade last week.

READ: James Dolan Fires Phil Jackson, Carmelo Anthony More Likely To Stay With Knicks

Amidst recent changes in the front office, however, New York has decided not to make any moves at the moment.

“I felt it was important for us to slow down, regroup as it related to the trade scenarios with Carmelo,” new team president Steve Mills said Monday at a news conference to introduce new general manager Scott Perry. “So we made a decision to slow things down, let us regroup and get together and make sure what's best for the New York Knicks, and at the same time we'll do what's best for Carmelo.”

The Knicks had reportedly been working on a multi-team deal that would allow Anthony to join Chris Paul and James Harden in Houston. Playing with LeBron James in Cleveland once appeared to be an option, but the Cavaliers have reportedly given up their pursuit of Anthony.

The two sides, however, have been unable to come to an agreement. Houston wants to unload Ryan Anderson, yet the Knicks don’t want to take on the remaining three years of his contract at more than $61 million. Having traded their first-round pick to acquire Paul, the Rockets don’t have the draft choices or the young players that the Knicks want in return for Anthony. New York and Houston had been working to bring a third or fourth team into the trade discussions, but an agreement was never reached.

Now, Anthony and the Knicks are stuck in limbo.

“We've been in contact with Carmelo's representatives. We've been in contact with other teams,” Mills said. “Our view is if there's an opportunity that works for Carmelo and works for us, then we'll look at some kind of trade. But we also feel that Carmelo could easily be a part of our team next year.

“We're going to move forward so maybe with Carmelo or without Carmelo.”

When Jackson first said that he was exploring trades, it was Anthony who hoped to stay as the Knicks were trying to push him out the door. A few months later, Anthony is reportedly hoping to be sent to Houston as New York considers bringing him back for the 2017-2018 NBA season.

Not having received any satisfactory trade offers, the Knicks don’t want to give Anthony away for far less than what he’s worth. While he might no longer be one of the NBA’s elite superstars, he’s still coming off an All-Star season in which he averaged 22.4 points per game. According to The New York Post, the Knicks will ask Anthony to expand the list of teams for which he would waive his no-trade clause.

“I think we will be a good developing team if Carmelo is part of the team. We'll be a good developing team if he isn't,” Mills said. “We'll be in constant communication with Carmelo and his camp, and we'll come to some resolution that works well for both [of] us.”

READ: Tim Hardaway Jr. Says He Wants Carmelo Anthony To Stay With Knicks

The Knicks and Rockets were hopeful that the Portland Trail Blazers could help them facilitate a deal that would put Anthony in Houston, but ESPN reported that Portland is interested in acquiring Anthony for themselves. Other playoff contenders could offer the Knicks a more desirable package than the Rockets, as well.

Houston and Anthony are reportedly determined to get a deal done that puts the forward in a Rockets uniform, but doing so might be more difficult than both sides initially thought.