Trade talks for Carmelo Anthony have resumed between the Houston Rockets and the New York Knicks, according to ESPN. Adrian Wojnarowski said that the Rockets have been sweeping the NBA, looking for a third team to include in the trade. Could the Brooklyn Nets be that team?
First of all, the Brooklyn Nets would not receive Anthony. Nor would they probably receive Ryan Anderson, the player Houston is centering their package around. If Brooklyn was included in the trade, it would be there strictly to match salaries.
But that is not necessarily a bad thing. The Nets have become the premier destination for salary dumps this season. They have acquired quality pieces for high prices, thanks to a very flexible cap situation.
However, those moves have limited Brooklyn’s cap space. After trading for Allen Crabbe, the Nets now have around $2 million in cap salary left, according to Spotrac. That is not a ton of money to play around with and they would not be able to absorb another salary without having to pay the luxury tax.
Brooklyn in turn would have to make moves of their own. That is if they did not have only absorb around $3.6 million dollars, according to ESPN’s Trade Machine. In this scenario, Brooklyn would get Tim Quarterman and Clint Capela, a starting caliber center, from Houston and would not have to take on any players from New York. They may even get a draft pick or two. But this is the dream scenario.
In reality, New York would likely try to include Joakim Noah’s fairly large, to say the least, contract. This would be harder for the Nets to absorb. But they can do it if they trade Trevor Booker and Jeremy Lin to the Knicks. They would still get Quarterman, Capela and picks in this scenario, if that’s any consolation.
Next: T.J. Kidd clears the air on the 2013 Pierce-Garnett trade
The Knicks probably will try not to trade within the division, however. More than likely, Houston will reach out to a team with more cap space like Phoenix. But if general manager Sean Marks can somehow get Capela in exchange for next to nothing, that seems like a pretty sweet deal.