The Carmelo Anthony-to-Cleveland trade rumors just got a bit juicier following a report from Frank Isola of the New York Daily News Monday evening suggesting LeBron James is pushing for the Cavaliers to acquire his good friend:
According to a league source, LeBron is the one pushing the Cleveland Cavaliers front office to acquire Carmelo even if it means trading Kevin Love, which is something Cavs management is opposed to doing. Jackson is hoping to move Anthony prior to the Feb. 23 trading deadline and one player the Knicks have targeted is Love, who had 23 points with 16 rebounds in Cleveland’s win over the Knicks last Saturday.
New York has been persistent in its attempt to trade Anthony to Cleveland over the last week, but has been met with resistance from the Cavaliers.
Any move from the Knicks would require Anthony, who has two years and $54.2 million remaining on his contract following this season, to waive his no-trade clause.
Isola reports that the Cavaliers are reluctant to part with Love, who still has three years and over $72 million dollars left on his deal after this season.
James, 32, and Anthony, 32, went Nos. 1 and 3, respectively, in the 2003 draft. The two were teammates together on Team USA’s gold medal teams during the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
The NBA trade deadline is Thursday, Feb. 23 at noon.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
