Knicks tried to initiate Love for Anthony trade, Cavs not interested

According to a report from ESPN’s Marc Stein and Chris Haynes, the New York Knicks tried to initiate a Carmelo Anthony for Kevin Love deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs, however, are not interested.

Per the report, the Knicks would approached Anthony about waiving his no trade clause if the Cavs had showed any interest in the deal.

To be frank, this is smart of the Cavs. At this point in their respective careers, Love is a superior player to Anthony. He’s younger and has been part of the Cavaliers’ success over the last two-plus seasons. Anthony, as he approaches his 33rd birthday, is starting to show some real signs of age. Dealing Love for Anthony would really be a downgrade. Love is also on a cheaper contract and under team control longer than Melo.

And while Carmelo is friends with LeBron James, it’s hard to see Anthony becoming a Cavalier. The only reasonable deals financially involve dealing Love or Kyrie Irving for Anthony. The Cavs would be crazy to pull the trigger on a deal that sends either player out for Melo.

Financially, the Cavs could do something like J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert for Anthony. But considering how Smith and Shumpert left New York - not to mention their relative value - it’s really, really hard to see New York interested in that type of swap.

It is possible, and perhaps likely, that the Cavs will make some sort of move in the near future. LeBron just recently called for Cleveland to add a playmaker and in the past has said he wants the Cavs to add another big. If they are to do so in a trade, the Cavs have a little under a month before the Feb. 23 trade deadline to do so.