Oklahoma City Thunder: Trading Carmelo Anthony Is Only Way To Keep Paul George
What will happen to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the next coming weeks? While many predict that Paul George will bolt via free agency, Sam Presti has to pull out all the stops to make sure that doesn’t happen. A team of just Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony does not have a dynasty sound to it. If the Thunder are serious about keeping a good core together, it all starts by trading Anthony.
Currently, the Thunder have four players making over $15 million with three over the annual pay of $20 million according to Spotrac. Paul George is expected to hit the $30 million range in 2018. How can Presti fit that $30 million in with Westbrook’s $35 million, Steven Adam’s $25 million, and Anthony’s $24 million? There is no way this can work unless Presti moves Anthony.
Moving Anthony is the best option considering his age and the value Presti can still get for him from a contending team. Not only just trading Anthony, but the Oklahoma City Thunder must look into getting a productive shooting guard and possibly a power forward as well. By releasing themselves of Anthony’s deal, the Thunder should be able to find two serviceable players on the market to pair with Westbrook, George, and Adams.
However, the kicker here is that why would Carmelo Anthony refuse to opt-out? Think about what has been said since the Thunder lost in the first round. Many believe that Anthony should receive bench duties but he has gone on record as saying, that’s not a role he’s willing to accept. Yes, he did have an off-year this season but who’s to say that will continue. If Anthony does opt-in, then the Thunder will have no choice but to find out what teams he wishes to join and for certain, they will receive peanuts on the dollar for the former All-Star.
With the recent news that Kawhi Leonard wishes to join the Lakers this offseaosn, that makes things a little more urgent for the Oklahoma City Thunder. This is reminiscent of the Kevin Durant situation. Presti did everything he could that offseason to add another scorer for Durant and Westbrook but still lost out on Kevin. This is Deja Vu all over again but this time, the Thunder still may be in the driver’s seat. The Lakers are not the Golden State Warriors and there is no guarhteee that LeBron James or Leonard will make it to the Lakers. So, all that’s left for the Thunder to do is fnd a trade partner for Anthony, get some assets back like a PF and SG and move on.
While Melo did provide a few sparks and having a Big 3 is better than not having one, in Presti’s eyes, it was always Paul George or bust.
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Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
