Why the Carmelo Anthony to the Rockets trade is taking so long

A lack of assets could make this a four-team trade.

A Carmelo Anthony trade to the Houston Rockets seems inevitable. Anthony is reportedly open to waiving his no-trade clause to join James Harden and Chris Paul, and Nene Instagrammed a picture of Anthony in a Rockets uniform. Paul even left a not-so-subtle hint in an interview with Marc Spears of the Undefeated, saying to “sit back and wait” when asked about Melo.

So why is Anthony still a Knick? Because trading him to Houston is quite complicated.

Anthony is set to make more than $26 million in 2017-18, the eighth most of any player in the league. Houston will have to find a way to match that salary within 125 percent in any deal. Getting rid of its next highest paid player in Ryan Anderson is the best way to do it, but the Knicks shouldn’t want him. Anderson’s hefty contract starts at more than $19 million, and totals more than $61 million over three years.

A third team will be necessary to make this trade work, but they’ll want at least one asset, whether it be a first-round pick and/or young player, as a reward for taking on Anderson’s bad contract. The biggest problem for Houston is that it doesn’t have many desirable assets left. The team dealt away its 2018 first-round pick and gave up young prospects in Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell to the Clippers as part of the Paul trade.

The bottom line is there aren’t enough young assets to go around to please everyone involved in this trade. That’s why this deal might even need a fourth team, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, in order to gain any traction.

The Anderson dilemma.

To shed salary, Anderson and his $19.5 million salary next season will need to be moved to make room for Anthony. But finding a team willing to take on the 29-year-old’s pricy contract over next three years will be hard. His stock isn’t so high as an aging one-dimensional player, though he shot 40 percent from three-point range last season.

Houston will need to find assets from somewhere else to sweeten an Anderson deal and make his contract digestible for the receiving team. The best they can offer is a 2020 first-round pick, and that won’t likely be enough.

Trading Anderson isn’t the only way to acquire Anthony, but the alternative would likely mean losing Eric Gordon and Trevor Ariza, who the Rockets need to compete next season. (Houston has a collection of non-guaranteed contracts to include in a trade as well, but they add up to less than $10 million).

Thus, Houston is backed into a tight corner here, relying on other teams to come through with the draft picks and young assets necessary to convince everyone involved.

That’s why this trade could expand to four teams, as Woj noted.

Which teams might want in?

The Phoenix Suns appear to be a team who would make sense. Since pulling out of a Paul Millsap offer, it’s obvious they’re in rebuild mode, and Woj has reported their interest in a salary dump for picks.

The Brooklyn Nets are already eating Timofey Mozgov’s contract via the D’Angelo Russell trade and DeMarre Carroll’s deal via a cap-clearing trade with Toronto. But with their 2018 first-rounder somehow also going to the Boston Celtics, maybe the Nets would triple down on beefy contracts for assets?

The Portland Trail Blazers have the league’s second-highest payroll, yet are far from NBA Finals contention. They could look to offload money to lessen their luxury-tax bill in exchange for the Rockets’ stockpile of non-guaranteed contracts.

Anderson had a fine season, but he’ll be a burden on any team’s payroll making top dollar as nothing more than a complementary piece. Whoever acquires him will need an asset in return.

Where any asset will come from is unclear.

The last twist to this headache is Anthony’s no-trade clause.

Anthony wanted a buyout, because that path would clear a much easier route to Houston for him and the Rockets. The Knicks want to gain something for the guy they traded Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, draft picks, and more to get six years ago. But due to no fault but their own, Anthony has the supreme control over this trade.

Anthony is reportedly willing to waive his no-trade clause to join Houston, but will he do so if the Rockets need to gut their team to acquire him? It isn’t clear how Anthony’s conversation with the remaining Knicks front office has gone now that Phil Jackson is no longer there, but it’s safe to say Anthony isn’t inclined to do them any favors.

Houston’s lack of assets are its biggest downfall as it tries to work its second blockbuster trade of the summer, and Anthony’s no-trade clause could haunt New York the entire way through negotiations.

That’s why a Carmelo Anthony to the Rockets trade could drag out through the summer, if it even happens at all.