The New York Knicks have agreed to trade star forward Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for forwards Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a second-round pick, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
The deal is expected to be completed Monday, with Anthony expected to waive his no-trade clause and $8.1 million trade kicker to make the deal work, a massive figure that could have put the deal in jeopardy. His no-trade clause will carry into his contract with the Thunder, according to ESPN Insider Bobby Marks — with two years and $54 million remaining in the deal.
OKC could have a payroll next year of $157M and a whopping $143M tax bill. The salary and tax factor in OKC bringing back all three players.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) September 23, 2017
While the talk of the summer has been revolved on Anthony's insistence of going to the Houston Rockets, the clock was ticking very fast prior to the start of training camp, forcing the 10-time All-Star to open up his options and look for other potential teams where he can be a fit.
The 32-year-old recently opened up the possibility for the Knicks to trade him to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Portland Trail Blazers, and even OKC as the start of training camp was rapidly approaching.
The All-Star tandem of Paul George and Russell Westbrook (also a Jordan Brand athlete), played a major part on recruiting Anthony to the Thunder, convincing him to drop his no-trade clause t join the team, per Wojnarowski.
Oklahoma City will now incur an additional $12.4 million in luxury tax after the deal is completed on Monday, with a whopping tax bill of $27.8 million, according to Marks.
Kanter; who worked out alongside Anthony during this offseason in Chris Brickley's Blackout Sessions, has a 15 percent trade bonus of $2.68 million with a cap hit of $20.56 million along with a player-option of $18.6 million for 2018-19.
McDermott is in the last year of his rookie deal with a cap hit of $3.3 million — giving the Knicks a few days to be able to extend his contract before the Oct. 16 deadline.
With more than 20 players on the roster, New York is now expected to waive one of their non-guaranteed signings to make room for their incoming ones.
Anthony is expected to be in Oklahoma City to join the team for the start of training camp, according to Wojnarowski.
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