NBA
Carmelo Anthony Traded To The Hawks In Three-Way Deal
Carmelo Anthony’s tenure with the Oklahoma City Thunder is now over. A three-way deal has happened, as the Thunder will send Anthony and a 2022 first round pick, which is protected (1-14), to the Hawks for guard Dennis Schroder and Mike Muscala, who will be sent to the Philadelphia 76ers. Muscala will bring the shooting they need. They lost Ersan Ilyasova, who went back to the Milwaukee Bucks and Marco Belinelli returned to the San Antonio Spurs.
The Thunder also get Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot from the 76ers. The Hawks will receive Justin Anderson from the 76ers. The deal will save the Thunder near $100 million in luxury tax savings.
Anthony and the Thunder came to a resolution they’ll both benefit from. Anthony gets to decide where he wants to go once his buyout is complete. In the eventual buyout, he’ll receive all of the $27.9 million he was scheduled to be owed this season. The Houston Rockets are the front-runners to acquire his services. It’s definitely a win-win situation for him.
As for the Thunder, this deal also makes their team a bit deeper. They also rid themselves of a disgruntled player who didn’t fully buy in last season. In adding Schroder, they upgrade their second unit. He brings speed, athleticism, and ball-handling ability.
Why did the Hawks get in this three-way deal? They simply wanted to rid themselves of Schroder, who they thought would replace Jeff Teague. He wasn’t consistent enough, especially when it came to shooting the basketball last season. He shot 43.6% from the field overall and 29% from three-point range.
The writing was on the wall when they drafted Trae Young in the NBA Draft a few weeks ago. More evidence of that emerged when they traded with the Brooklyn Nets to acquire Jeremy Lin. They’re now in rebuilding mode, so shedding salary is their goal at the moment.
