NBA Trade Rumors: Carmelo Anthony won’t waive his no-trade clause for Cavs trade

Amid Carmelo Anthony’s desire to leave the Knicks this summer, the Cavaliers and Rockets emerged as the two landing place’s for Melo. Now, it seems Cleveland is out of the running.

According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, Anthony only wants to waive his no-trade clause for a deal to Houston, where would team up with Chris Paul and James Harden. On July 3, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Anthony would waive his no-trade clause to come to Cleveland.

Trading for Anthony didn’t make much sense for the Cavs to begin with, but this is notable nonetheless. It’s also unclear how Kyrie Irving’s trade demand plays into this. Anthony can opt out of his contract after next season, so it’s not as if he could up in Cleveland without LeBron James if a deal were to happen. If anything, this seems to indicate that he’s sold on Houston and is using his no-trade clause to keep the Knicks from sending him somewhere he doesn’t want to be. The Blazers and Thunder are also reportedly interested in acquiring Anthony.

This would also seem to take the possibility of a Irving-for-Anthony deal off the table. That wouldn’t have been a smart move by the Cavs, but it was one of the ways for Irving to end up in one of his preferred destinations. If Irving ends up in New York, it’ll have to happen some other way.